What did you do to your Mirage today?

[Mark]

Makes me miss my 1st Mirage so badly...
Attachment 19417

Is there a 2nd Mirage, or do you have plans for a 2nd one?

I noticed your Mirage accident was almost 2 years ago (November 2018).

[Basic]

Is there a 2nd Mirage, or do you have plans for a 2nd one?

I noticed your Mirage accident was almost 2 years ago (November 2018).

Yeah there is a second one. I picked up a dirt cheap 2015 CVT. I rarely post about it because I really don't like it that much. All of the things I loved about the 5 speed just aren't as great with this one. My mom is driving it as a backup right now.

[PityOnU]

Any chance you have alignment printouts from before and after installing the wheels and sway bar?

I actually do - let me get a pic...

Factory Wheels/Tires:





Aftermarket Wheels/Tires:

Makes me miss my 1st Mirage so badly...
Attachment 19417

Wow, that looks great! I had originally wanted a black Mirage. Look very sharp, I think.

[strawboss]

Changed the CVT fluid today. Also the cartridge filter next to the oil cooler, the magnets in the pan where pretty clean, just some fine black pasty goop on them. I didn't change the filter/screen in the oil pan just gave it a shake to check for chunks....65 thousand Km.

[Loren]

Today, I drove the Mirage. That seems to be a rare event these days.

Still learning how to best use the new kill switch. Decided to do a longer drive through the city with a fair bit of traffic today. 45 minutes or so. 30-45 mph roads. Significant, but moving traffic. Lots of traffic lights.

Normally, just using standard hypermiling tricks (DWB, DFCO, neutral coasting, light acceleration, shifting at 2000), the absolute best I could get out of this kind of route if there was NO traffic and I missed all of the lights would be about 54 mpg. With the kind of traffic I had today, I'd have been struggling to keep 50, and been content with 48. With the addition of the kill switch (and still idling at traffic lights to avoid having to use the starter), I was able to maintain over 60 mpg, I thought I might have 62 by the time I got home, but ended up at 61.3. That was with a fair amount of shifting at 3000 due to the pace of traffic, and going up some hills, and probably a total of 10 minutes of time spent idling at traffic lights.

Next time out, I'm going to hit the back roads.

[Dirk Diggler]

Changed the CVT fluid today. Also the cartridge filter next to the oil cooler, the magnets in the pan where pretty clean, just some fine black pasty goop on them. I didn't change the filter/screen in the oil pan just gave it a shake to check for chunks....65 thousand Km.

Same here but got both filters done.

[Mark]

Today, I drove the Mirage. That seems to be a rare event these days.

Still learning how to best use the new kill switch. Decided to do a longer drive through the city with a fair bit of traffic today. 45 minutes or so. 30-45 mph roads. Significant, but moving traffic. Lots of traffic lights.

Normally, just using standard hypermiling tricks (DWB, DFCO, neutral coasting, light acceleration, shifting at 2000), the absolute best I could get out of this kind of route if there was NO traffic and I missed all of the lights would be about 54 mpg. With the kind of traffic I had today, I'd have been struggling to keep 50, and been content with 48. With the addition of the kill switch (and still idling at traffic lights to avoid having to use the starter), I was able to maintain over 60 mpg, I thought I might have 62 by the time I got home, but ended up at 61.3. That was with a fair amount of shifting at 3000 due to the pace of traffic, and going up some hills, and probably a total of 10 minutes of time spent idling at traffic lights.

Next time out, I'm going to hit the back roads.

Do you ever calculate your overall mpg at the gas pump (miles driven since last tank fill/gallons pumped to refill tank)?

If so, what's the best you have ever seen?

In all honesty, having to do special things to get 60 mpg doesn't do much for me. Driving a car normal & getting 40-50 mpg trips my trigger.

Not saying this isn't interesting, because it is. Maybe if the Mirage was more like Fred Flintstone's car, we could push off through the floor boards with our feet to help us get started. That would also help us save some gas, too!

Sorry, I am just being silly!

I like that the Mirage has the same highway mpg rating as the Prius c without all the hybrid technology associated with it. The Mirage may be in production longer than the Prius c some day, too!

What you share is interesting! Thanks for the update!

[Loren]

Do you ever calculate your overall mpg at the gas pump (miles driven since last tank fill/gallons pumped to refill tank)?

I have in the past, but I don't usually. The reason why I used to not bother is that I was competing in autocross with the car every other weekend... which meant at least one autocross on every tank, which kinda blows your gas mileage! So, I just do trip mileage at a "game" when I drive. Always striving for the high score if I have the time and inclination to bother with it.

That said, I've been known to see over 50 mpg on the 60-minute drive to an autocross in the morning. See my average get knocked down to 40ish during the event, and then get it back up over 45 on the way home. Having your sports car get smoked by a Mirage at an autocross is annoying. Having the owner remind you that he still netted 45 mpg doing it... priceless. I do miss autocrossing the Mirage if for no other reason than that.

I have done some fuel economy challenge events, but that was before I bought the Mirage.

If so, what's the best you have ever seen?

When I first started getting into hypermiling, I was driving a Yaris. I had full tank averages in the very low 50's with that car. More typical would have been around 47-48. But, I autocrossed that car, too... so, I didn't get good full tank averages unless I took a trip somewhere. I probably haven't ever calculated ACTUAL miles/gallons fuel economy on the Mirage. I could do it now, but it's going to take me 2 months to get through a tank of gas at the rate I'm driving it!

And the last economy challenge I did was in a 1990 1.6 Miata. I put a kill switch in it, too. It was 90% back roads, and it STARTED at midnight. (it was a blast!) So, I had to temporarily wire in an auxiliary battery to allow for extended coasts without killing the battery. I netted something like 50 mpg that night in a Miata by doing an awful lot of 4th gear half-throttle acceleration up to 60-65, and engine-off neutral-coasting down to 25-30. Lather, rinse, repeat. And time the deceleration so that you are at the right speed for the curves and such.

In all honesty, having to do special things to get 60 mpg doesn't do much for me. Driving a car normal & getting 40-50 mpg trips my trigger.

That's okay. I like a car that "naturally" gets good fuel economy, too. But, I also enjoy looking at that EPA number and saying "pffth, I can beat that by 50%"... and then proving to myself that I can.

Last road trip I took in my wife's 2017 Miata, I dedicated one leg of the trip to hypermiling. I think I almost hit 45 mpg. I wanted more, but there was traffic and a headwind.

I usually do the same when we fly somewhere and have a rental car. I found the Hyundai Elantra to not only be a capable off-road vehicle (you can go ANYWHERE with a rental car), but I also was able to pretty easily see 50 mpg with it over the course of about a half tank. Of course, "getting somewhere" almost always takes precedence over playing fuel economy games.

I even hypermiled my V8 S10 once (finally sold that thing last month). 383 cubic inches of cast iron V8. It would get 12-14 mpg pretty much no matter what, 11 if you were mean. But, I did eek 18 mpg out of it once with liberal use of pulse and glide. (65 to 45 coasts)

Not saying this isn't interesting, because it is. Maybe if the Mirage was more like Fred Flintstone's car, we could push off through the floor boards with our feet to help us get started. That would also help us save some gas, too!

Sorry, I am just being silly!

I mentioned the midnight economy run, right? 3am checkpoint at CVS in some small town? You better believe we parked so that when we left, we'd be headed downhill... and there just may have been some pushing out of parking spaces going on. We were in hardcore competition mode!

What you share is interesting! Thanks for the update!

Glad you're enjoying it. I just try to have fun with my cars. Playing the "how high can I get my fuel economy" game gets me into less trouble than playing the "how fast can I drive this curve" game, or the "how fast can my car go" game. Engine-off coasting (and not wanting to rely on the starter) adds a whole new level of driver engagement that I enjoy. Or rather... I enjoy it when I want to. Sometimes I just drive.

[flip096]

washed the car, install a rear view mirror dash cam and handed the keys to my wife...she owns the mirage now as her first car...she finally got her drivers license...

[Dirk Diggler]

washed the car, install a rear view mirror dash cam and handed the keys to my wife...she owns the mirage now as her first car...she finally got her drivers license...

Yeah you cant live in LA without a car.