3000 mile update, 2015 Mirage purchased 5/9/15

[deleted user]

21k, thread here about squealing noise, assuming it is the belt. Personally I want mine as loose as it can be without slipping. Less energy, wear, and bearing stress.

regards
mech

[M-88]

I much prefer manual belt tensioners. Have never had good luck with the durability of auto tensioners and I can never get the belt off or on without taking 50000000000 tries to back the stupid thing off.

[Car Nut]

the Mirage is more similar to Grandpa's Model A Ford that they swapped the engine to the work boat on Monday and back into the car on Friday using the boats own boom for the swap.

regards
mech[/QUOTE]

That sounds like a very interesting story. Wouldn't mind hearing the rest of it sometime.

[deleted user]

13,300 miles.

Front tires are at 6/32 now, one third of the allowable wear or about 40k miles total, when needing replacement without rotation (about 65,000 kilometers).
Rears show almost NO wear, maybe 1/64 or less than 10% of the allowable wear before they would fail inspection at 2/32nd inch.
No significant dents, dings, scratches, windshield chips or anything else that would indicate any build quality issues.

Installed a block heater two days ago, if you want to call applying high temp silicone to the mating points and sticking it in a hole
an "installation".

Never had a block heater in any car I have ever owned before. I'll probably never own another car without one. Today ambient temp was 44 degrees when I left home. .3 mile later reading 35 mpg, 2 miles 50mpg, 3 miles 60mpg. Trip average was over 60 mpg when I got home (61.3). These mpg figures would match my mpg driving without the block heater in 90+ degree ambient temperatures.

With my mpg average at 55 since purchased new, there is no reason to even think about buying another vehicle, when the total fuel expense since purchased is still under $500. I stocked up on fuel last trip to a station buying 20 gallons at $1.549, now it's below $1.50 here in eastern Va.

Would I do the exact same thing again? Yes without a moments hesitation.

regards
mech

[deleted user]

Warm Air Intake installed today, saw 69 mpg on a short test drive.

regards
mech

[Daox]

Nice! What kind of intake temps were you seeing?

[deleted user]

I have no instrumentation to tell me that information. My guess would be 120F. You can fine tune it by proximity to the manifold.
Of course if you pull a lot of air the temps will drop.

Green temp light went off this AM in .2 mile, compared to .8 in mid summer and 1.2 in winter. Block heater on for 2 hours.

regards
mech

[cyclopathic]

I have no instrumentation to tell me that information.

ELM327 bluetooth OBDII reader $5 on eBay, TorquePro ($5) or TorqueLite (free) Android app will give you access to all sensor information reported on OBDII good luck

[deleted user]

I'll probably check out something instrumentation wise, but I can feel the WAI working and at shut down today the hose was hot to the touch. Light load acceleration is now much like it was last summer in 95+ degree heat. Today's drive was not typical. The wife took her Sorento in for a recall. Temps today were very warm for mid winter, low 70s. Gas at Wal Mart is $1.429 @ gal.

Previous experience has shown that a grille block and good WAI can mitigate about half of the winter mileage losses. Last time I bought gas was 1/09/16, when I bought 22.5 gallons. By the time I refill again it should be just about a month (Feb 9) on those 22.5 gallons at 53 mpg (US).

Right at 900 miles on 16.5 of those22.5 gallons since 1/9/16.

regards
mech

[cyclopathic]

Are you storing gas in Jerry cans? I used to mess with it when commuted on motorcycle. 165mi out of tank with 110mi round trip and you'd be messing with it on daily basis. 4 NATO cans from surplus at $5 each were real life saver.