An Introduction to EcoModding

EcoDriving is all about reducing your gas bills by driving your car in a way that reduces your fuel consumption and maintaining it properly to make sure it runs as efficiently as possible. EcoModding goes one stage further. Modifying parts of your car. Adding bits to your car. Taking things off your car. This is all done with the goal of minimising fuel consumption and emissions. EcoModders are green gearheads!

Oil is now over $140 a barrel. Gasoline is over $4 a gallon in the United States and £5 a gallon in the United Kingdom. General Motors share price was $25.01 at the start of this year. It was down to $17.73 at the start of last month (June 2008). It closed the month at $11.50. Something needs to be done but it looks like General Motors aren't going to be able to do it. EcoModders are doing it for themselves!

The internal combustion engine found in the average family saloon is unfortunately not really very good at doing what it was originally designed to do. There are many different ways of looking at the efficiency of an engine. An average efficiency of around 20% is the number generally mentioned for a petrol powered engine. Diesels are somewhat better. The fuel to wheel efficiency is even worse; generally around 15%. If you are interested in some of the technical background this article from the University of Washington about how to Improve the efficiency of an internal combustion engine is a very interesting read.

Ever since the automobile was invented enthusiasts have tweaked, tuned and modified their engines to try to make them perform better. In the past the idea was usually to increase the power output; to make the car the engine powered accelerate better to a higher top speed. Improving the efficiency of the engine helps here, and so does boring out the cylinders!

More recently though a new type of enthusiast has emerged, concerned with reducing emissions and fuel consumption instead of increasing power. The EcoModder was born!