Swarthy :: 2014 Mitsubishi Mirage DE (Garage entry)

[Daox]

I aired up my tires to a solid 50 psi last night. I've been getting an iffy 60 mpg in to work lately. Today the MFD read 64 mpg!

[MetroMPG]

I aired up my tires to a solid 50 psi last night

No pun intended. How's the ride?

Congrats on the new record!

Does that mean a 60+ tank is within reach in good weather?

[Daox]

The ride is noticeably more firm over bumps. The nice bit is steering is a bit more crisp too. It's totally bearable IMO.

I hope a 60+ mpg tank is in my future yet this year. It would be a massive boost over my previous best tank of 51 mpg. Though, lately I have been employing a lot more mpg boosting driving techniques.

[Daox]

I really gave it a good try on the way home from work today. I changed my normal route to one that has slower roads. This added a few minutes to my 14 mile (normally ~25 minute commute). It probably ended up being 30ish. Anyway, this is certainly the best trip I've ever had in the Mirage. I doubt this'll become the norm, but I had to give it a try to see if I could get it above 70.

[Daox]

I had my best commute to work today. It's Friday, so lighter traffic than normal which allowed me some space to coast more. This was trying pretty hard. Not doable every day.

I also used my block heater for the first time since winter. This seemed to really help despite the ambient temperature being around 55F.

[Daox]

The weather continues to get colder out, but the Mirage has really continued to impress me this year. Last winter it did well and got in the mid 40s. This is pretty good, but not amazing for us here on EM. This winter it has a few more mods and a driver who is pushing for higher mpg. I'll admit last year I was lazy.

Recently I've taken the time to reinstall some of the cold weather modifications that I removed for warm weather. This includes a WAI and a full grill block. Its nice to have a quick warming car, and one that stays warmer!

Yesterday it was 12F out when I left for work. I got a good preheat with the block heater and coolant temp was in the 90s when I pulled out of the driveway. Traffic was lighter than normal and I took advantage of it. I was able to get 55 mpg. In 12F weather I find that impressive.

Now, this morning it was only 6F out. I made sure to get a good preheat and coolant temp was just over 100F when I left. Traffic was even lighter today and I took the opportunity to slow down a bit more. This lead to a pretty awesome 56 mpg!



I'll say I can't even tell that it is that cold by the way the Mirage shifts with its thinner transmission fluid. Though, to be honest I couldn't tell with the old fluid until it got to around 0F out. I'm sure that is helping a little at these frigid temps.

In any case, I am very impressed by mid 50s in this weather. That is a full 10 mpg gain vs last year with a handful of new mods, and using more P&G. We will see what the tank comes out to though. But, most of my trips are well above 50.

[Daox]

I had a very close call today. I was driving along and heard a clunk under the car. I didn't think too much of it and went about my business. I stopped in at a store and proceeded home. I noticed a oil puddle when I got out of the store. I figured it was someone else's car. But, when I fired it up after a few seconds the oil light came on. I was about a block away from home so I used some pulse and glide to keep the engine off as much as possible.

When I got home I got a chance to take a look at it. Sure enough, I totally lost my drain plug.





I happened to have a Fumoto valve for another car. So, I decided to throw that in so I could get back up and running right away. I filled back up with oil and should be good to go.

I'm hoping not too much damage was done. There weren't any odd noises, but running with the oil light on is never a good idea.

[Mark]

Probably not the most environmentally friendly way to do an oil change.

I also hope no damage was done to your engine!

[MetroMPG]

Woohooo! Dodged a bullet there! How lucky that you were only a block from home when it happened??

Time to go buy a lottery ticket. But not if there's a lightning storm.

And next time, tighten it more than finger tight.

(I'm one to talk... I only finger-tightened one of my front wheels recently. Fortunately, I noticed the "loose wheel" light came on, so I fixed it before it became a serious problem.)

[El Kapitan]

I would love it if they designed cars with those little valves. I suppose somebody tried at some point and it turned out not to be a good idea???