Mechanic! Tell us about your TX relocation!

[7milesout]

I see you got a job at NAPA. Awesome. I like NAPA stores. Columbus huh? I was thinking you were west of Dallas but you're west of Houston. Columbus is going to be HOT HOT HOT in the summer. What brings you to Columbus? Do you have family there?

The middle size uhaul enclosed is a 5' x 8', single axle, 900 lb empty trailer. Not too hard for the Mirage empty. Although the drag would have a good impact. My utility trailer is a 5' x 10', single axle with heavy wood floor and good size rear ramp gate. I think about 850 - 875 pounds empty. But I have the rear lift gate laid down flat to the floor when empty. With that set up, the drag is very low. It is a great option for a Mirage to pull. But whatever is on the trailer is exposed to the elements. Not great on a bad weather day though. But with that gate down I was able to pull all hills at 70 mph without losing speeds. And averaged 34.5 mpg. You can see my trailer towing thread.

With the performance numbers you posted, I would be guessing you towed more than 1,700 or 1,800 pounds, but I don't know. I'm wondering if you made an attempt while loading to sort of center the weight more toward the axle and not slamming it all on the hitch of the car.

Think I'll break off this reply and look for some convo on this much. And parse out some of my many questions and comments in the next thread. Last thing I'll say is I bet the extra inches of the wheelbase would ultimately make the G4 the more confident tow vehicle between the G4 and HB.

[Mechanic]

Seven,
. . . . I was born in Texas City. I have cousins all over the area but I don't know who they are. You are correct it gets very hot down here and humid. I plan on installing two hood vents on my Mirage. My mom was born in Alvin and raised in Alvin and Galveston. My dad is from Texarkana.
. . . . Uhaul says that that trailer weighs 600 pounds empty. I know that I was over the 1,500 pound limit for my G4. Yes, I balanced the weight so that I had between 250 and 300 pounds on the tongue. Wind direction and speed had a large influence on gear selection and MPG. It was tiring and fun at the same time.
GOD Bless and Thanks,
rich!

[7milesout]

Okay, well I cannot tell a lie. When I read about your 85 mph top speed experiment, I laughed for about a minute straight. Because you and I may be the only knuckleheads dumb enough to a) be curious about such a thing, and b) dumb enough to give it a try to find out. I wouldn't try it with my utility trailer empty because even though it tows straight as an arrow, I would be concerned that empty, it could hit something on the road hard enough to make a tire hop off the ground. And if it didn't land straight, it might start to get squirrely. And I don't think the HB has enough beef and wheelbase to handle getting yanked around especially in a high speed experiment. 70 mph it handled everything just fine. It did hit bumps and jiggle around some. But was no problem. With my liftgate folded down, it would probably get close to the car's normal top speed. Just take a lot longer to get there, and be a whole lot scarier. And doing 100+ mph towing a trailer with a Mirage is on the gray edge of just how dumb I may be. I don't even think I'd try that experiment with my 3/4 ton pickup.

All your analysis of headwinds, tailwinds, with speed and mpg is very interesting to me. And as much as I prefer to drive a manual transmission, I think I would have had to found a way around all the shifting. Like instead of ever trying to get into 5th (in certain conditions), I'd probably just have tried 4th, higher rpm and a lower speed, just to roll more steady (lower) speed. But I wasn't there, so I just *think* that's what I would have done. One time when I was towing my 9,500 pound 5th wheel camper, going west in South Dakota with a tremendous headwind, I slowed down to maybe 60 mph and ran in 5th (of a 6-speed). At maybe 2,400 rpm. No more shifting when the winds varied. It turned, from what I remember, about 2,400 rpm (which is on the verge of screaming with an Cummins ISB). But at 2,400 rpm, it had immediate boost and torque with the winds gusted even harder and pulled through that wind with no problems.

Did your cats make that trip back and forth twice? Or did you just leave them behind until the last leg? And how did they behave in the car? I've seen a few cats that do good in a car. But the cats I have had in my life were definitely not down with a car ride.

[7milesout]

I'm glad you came out of that hard braking scenario unscathed. That's how good driver's crash. Misunderstanding the real scenario. So, glad no collision occurred. You and I differ. You "seem" to show no mercy to your vehicle. I tend to baby mine. If I had my eyeball watching coolant temps and had a set max temp in mind, when I reached that max temp, The A/C would be turned off, the heat turned on and the windows put down. Just to control the temp. I did that before in a 2006 Honda Oddity while in Death Valley pulling long uphill grades in the middle of summer. Last thing I want is to have to deal with a broke down car ... on the side of the road ... especially way far off from home.

[Mechanic]

Seven,
. . . . I made sure that there were no other vehicles around, that I was on a straight flat piece of very long road, and that there was no wind at all. I have good eyesight and I pay very close attention to everything in front and on my sides out to the limit of my vision which on a clear day works out to over 5 miles. The G4 never did anything funny but not comfortable at that speed. Very long braking distances are required. Lots of people with trailers were passing me at much higher speeds. I didn't care. Except for that experiment I drove along at 60 mph! I have been to 161 mph in my RX-3 on several occasions and I used to cruise at 130 on a regular basis. That was when the speed limit out West including TX was Reasonable and Proper! I also raced IMSIA and SCCA prepped cars at 170 to 180. You have to pay very close attention for you are cover huge distances very quickly.

Okay, well I cannot tell a lie. When I read about your 85 mph top speed experiment, I laughed for about a minute straight. Because you and I may be the only knuckleheads dumb enough to a) be curious about such a thing, and b) dumb enough to give it a try to find out. I wouldn't try it with my utility trailer empty because even though it tows straight as an arrow, I would be concerned that empty, it could hit something on the road hard enough to make a tire hop off the ground. And if it didn't land straight, it might start to get squirrely. And I don't think the HB has enough beef and wheelbase to handle getting yanked around especially in a high speed experiment. 70 mph it handled everything just fine. It did hit bumps and jiggle around some. But was no problem. With my liftgate folded down, it would probably get close to the car's normal top speed. Just take a lot longer to get there, and be a whole lot scarier. And doing 100+ mph towing a trailer with a Mirage is on the gray edge of just how dumb I may be. I don't even think I'd try that experiment with my 3/4 ton pickup.

. . . . I know. My style is to get up to a set cruise speed very quickly like an airplane pilot climbing to cruise altitude and then to move along at that set speed and doing what is necessary to maintain that speed if possible.

All your analysis of headwinds, tailwinds, with speed and mpg is very interesting to me. And as much as I prefer to drive a manual transmission, I think I would have had to found a way around all the shifting. Like instead of ever trying to get into 5th (in certain conditions), I'd probably just have tried 4th, higher rpm and a lower speed, just to roll more steady (lower) speed. But I wasn't there, so I just *think* that's what I would have done. One time when I was towing my 9,500 pound 5th wheel camper, going west in South Dakota with a tremendous headwind, I slowed down to maybe 60 mph and ran in 5th (of a 6-speed). At maybe 2,400 rpm. No more shifting when the winds varied. It turned, from what I remember, about 2,400 rpm (which is on the verge of screaming with an Cummins ISB). But at 2,400 rpm, it had immediate boost and torque with the winds gusted even harder and pulled through that wind with no problems.

I left my cats with a friend in Reedsburg. I only had them along for the final trip after I dropped the trailer back off in Baraboo. They were a hand full for the first couple of hours. They let me know that they did not want to do this. I opened the pass through between the rear seats into the trunk. I had a cat box set up in the trunk. I had food and water setup on the floor behind my seat. There was one time that Stripes, the younger cat, wanted to get down under the pedals. Big no, no! For the first month after I got here both cats spent most of time in bed next to me. They now spend about 50-50 with me and away from me! They are fine. I appreciate that you asked.
GOD Bless and Thanks,\
rich!

Did your cats make that trip back and forth twice? Or did you just leave them behind until the last leg? And how did they behave in the car? I've seen a few cats that do good in a car. But the cats I have had in my life were definitely not down with a car ride.

[Mechanic]

Seven,
. . . . Me too! ! Very very close call. If I had been a third of a second closer I would have hit the car in front of me. If my response time had been 0.5 seconds instead of 0.2 seconds I would have hit the car in front of me. Yep! I misread what was going on.
. . . . I have to run the A/C. What ever went wrong with me 20 years ago damaged my metabolism. Heat indexes over 90F will kill me in short order so no A/C is not an option. If I keep my Mirage and I may not do that I am going to add two hood vents. That will help lower the under hood temps and that should help to lower the coolant temp. I will probably have a four core full length radiator built for it. If I do keep it I am going to install those struts from CarId and the rear sway bar. I will also put on aluminum rims. With the two fans I have the option of pulling over and letting the coolant temp come down. If I do add the bigger radiator I will add a third fan.
GOD Bless and Thanks,
rich!

[inuvik]

Seven,
. . . . Me too! ! Very very close call. If I had been a third of a second closer I would have hit the car in front of me. If my response time had been 0.5 seconds instead of 0.2 seconds I would have hit the car in front of me. Yep! I misread what was going on.
. . . . I have to run the A/C. What ever went wrong with me 20 years ago damaged my metabolism. Heat indexes over 90F will kill me in short order so no A/C is not an option. If I keep my Mirage and I may not do that I am going to add two hood vents. That will help lower the under hood temps and that should help to lower the coolant temp. I will probably have a four core full length radiator built for it. If I do keep it I am going to install those struts from CarId and the rear sway bar. I will also put on aluminum rims. With the two fans I have the option of pulling over and letting the coolant temp come down. If I do add the bigger radiator I will add a third fan.
GOD Bless and Thanks,
rich!

Why don't you put a lower temp thermostat in? Using Motorad part number 240192 is the stock thermostat with the temp being the last 3 digits. They make a 240180 & 240170 that would fit.

[7milesout]

Why don't you put a lower temp thermostat in?

I don't know, but I don't think a lower temp thermostat would do much of anything for cooling at his max temps while towing. His current (stock?) thermostat had to have been WAO at those temps, and a lower temp thermostat doesn't have any more A to be any more O(pen).

Seems like it would allow the coolant temps to run cooler on very cold days if not under much load, but that's all. It seems like it wouldn't help Rich's max temp scenarios. But I'm just thinking out loud here. I'm no cooling system expert.

[inuvik]

Me either, I'm thinking a lower temp thermostat would be most beneficial for CVT owners because of the wimpy stack OEM cooler.

[Mechanic]

Inuvik, Seven,
. . . . You don't want to do this. A cooler thermostat will not lower the maximum temp if the thermostat is working correctly. Seven you are correct in your assumption that it will only make the engine run cooler in cooler temperatures. I.E. Temperatures below 85F. The thing is is that these engines are designed to run at 190F. If you run them at 180 then they will burn more fuel and the engine wear will go up because of fuel washing oil off the cylinder walls. The higher the operating temperatures up to the point that things start to warp or when the oil temperature starts to exceed to 250 the better the fuel mileage. The answer is more airflow, lower under hood temperatures, and more cooling capacity, I.E. a bigger radiator. These radiators are just big enough for 100 or 105F. Higher than that and there just isn't enough cooling capacity! People who live in hot climates and don't take care of their cooling systems are going to have all kinds of problems when the car is 3 or 4 years old. IMO!!
GOD Bless and Thanks,
rich!