Fuel Economy Glossary

The purpose of this glossary is to give you a bit of an idea what's going one with FE (fuel economy) slang that I might use or that you might see on forums like www.ecomodder.com.

A-B-A Testing > The most agreeable method of testing FE modifications/driving techniques 15
Acetone > A chemical compound that may or may not increase mileage. 9
Alternator > Converts the spinning of the engine into electrical energy. 12
Bleeding > Its kinda half a P&G if you will. Either done on level ground or on a slight decline. It involves extreme throttle control. Movent of the throttle that you mite not even beable to feel. I only use it on very slight down hill grades. basicly as you enter this slight down hill grade you ever so slightly take pressure off the throttle. Your goal is to maintain speed. heck sometimes speed will go up when you nail it right. If you have a ScanGauge or supermid or what ever its called like others on this site have. You will see you instant mpg start climbing very nice. Used when a FAS wont work. 1
CAI > Cold Air Intake 6
Cd > Coefficient of Drag
CdA > Coefficient of Drag times frontal area
CODFISH > Coast On Demand Forced Ignition Shutoff 3 5 15
ECU > Engine Control Unit
ECT > Engine Coolant Temperature 7 15
EOC > Engine Off Coasting 2 5 15
EV > Electric Vehicle
FAS > Forced Auto Stop. basicly turning the engine off. Be it on a coast or at a stop light. MPG is always better the less the engine runs. 1 5 15
Fuel > Brand differences may or may not be important 8
HAI > Hot Air Intake 6
HCH > Honda Civic Hybrid 13
HPV > Human Powered Vehicle
ICE > Internal Combustion Engine
LRR > Low Rolling Resistance
NiMH > Nickel Metal Hydride (generally a battery reference)
P&G > Pulsa and Gluide. Its roots go way way back in FE driving. But its claim to fame has been in hybrids. Its also alot of work IMHO. But in certin cars can produce steller results. Lets say your on a stretch of road thats flat as a board. Our target speed is 60 mph. We get to 60 mph and then we begin a bleed say down to 55 mph. We then start speeding up to our 60 mph target. But we do it very very slow. In some hybrids you pick up some very lite assist from the electric motor and dont really use much of the pack. And then we start bleeding again. This is a very repetative driving style and not for the faint at heart. It takes alot of conctration and throttle control. It has alot of varibles that can be played with for diff. cars and over all driving styles. Used alot on hwy's and in city driving. The challenge for hybrid drivers is to know when to loose a P&G cycle or two to get the pack recharged. 1 5
RRC > Rolling Resistance Coefficent
Speed vs MPG > This is important to know, just because. 10 11
SuperMID > Super Multi Information Display. 14
model M-1 : mileage meter
model T-1 : tacho and water/intake-air temp
model C-1 : CAN message
VG > Vortex Generator 4
VSS > Vehicle Speed Sensor
WAI > Warm Air Intake 6

NOTE: The links at the end of the definitions will bring you various places discussing the ideas they follow. If you want anything added or changed, please let me know. Thanks.

Contact me with questions or comments!

- Ben aka SVOboy

Visit Ecomodder.com to discuss!