S3 E16. The Kubota turbo diesel Saturn delivers mind bending fuel economy once again

[@snap_oversteer]

You've achieved in your backyard what VW did with the Lupo 3L and you did it with heavier car with indirect injection industrial diesel, great job!

[@samusaron5000]

Not to mention with only 1 (maybe 2) guys vs a whole engineering team.

[@fastinradfordable]

Um the 3cyl polo has the record as a production car making 95mpg

[@fastinradfordable]

And then polo actually set the record of *not dropping below highway speed limit.

[@winiary_taniegruzy]

The lupo also accelerates to 62mph in ~14 seconds

[@amplituhedron5582]

I had a 1.9 TDI that could do 2.9L/100km if you wanted. Averaged around 5.5. Wasn't too slow either.

[@DPush420]

I'm noticing a worrying lack of burnouts on this channel.

[@katieandkevinsears7724]

I'm burned out. Does that count?

[@jrt2924]

​@@katieandkevinsears7724yes

[@volvo09]

This is the channel where there isn't even enough power to chirp the tires over some slick paint... 😂

[@Pointlesschan]

@@volvo09 black ice is about the only chance to spin the tires on these cars

[@vipervidsgamingplus5723]

It probably would destroy the motor to do that. Not to mention that it sounds like a tractor.

[@ocdman202]

You know you've reached middle age when you're cautioned to slow down by your doctor, instead of by the police.

[@kansasrose2909]

Man, have you found a good dentist yet? Those dental stories you had last time were quite interesting. Love to hear what other people experience, they really tell it like it is. Any good dentists in your area yet. ??

[@Auraxium]

While the experiments might seem dumb at first glance, I've learned a bunch of stuff watching this series. Don't focus on the negative comments too much. Looking forward to the next video.

[@richardschaefer3889]

I like to think he's inspired at least 3-4 people to throw a Kubota in a Saturn. Makes me smile.

[@sknerl]

Strangely been thinking about it for years. Been looking at my 9n tractor with that in mind as well. America needs a light diesel option with a manual transmission. Saturn is likely the last quality (for small american cars) option with that viability. I just wish those 3 cylinder diesels weren't a billion dollars. What I really want to do is mesh an electric motor with this diesel engine and proper regen brakes. It works for the train industry...and I'd love to toss this in an S10 or ranger. I think it would resolve the slow starts and improve mileage, obviously.

[@Blue__244]

next episode. we are going to build a compound turbo setup for the kubota diesel saturn so it makes 100 psi boost and gets 75 mpgs.

[@FinflazodeTurroai]

Perfect. Next time try to make the fuel REPRODUCE in the tank, and obtain negative MPG

[@thomaswykes3647]

I did suggest this a while ago but worth repeating - you could improve the flow through the exhaust housing by tidying up the casting. These Chinese turbos are rough inside and restrictive compared to the IHI originals. This will produce boost earlier and help lower the exhaust temperature. Here's a link to a how-to video which gave impressive results on the same turbo entitled: "Ninja 500R turbo VZ21 More exhaust housing modifications": youtu.b/HPBPJIInciw

[@fastinradfordable]

Improve flow by heat wrapping the turbo and exhaust.

[@MyLonewolf25]

Some minor head and port work would do a lot as well I think

[@tihzho]

These CHEAP turbos are rough inside and restrictive compared to the IHI originals. The point being in the 1950's - 60's anything made in Japan was cheap junk, that changed, however Japan still makes cheap junk depending on what you buy. Same as China, its what you buy.

[@elprebsi1971]

​@@fastinradfordablei had the same thought, also less heat emitted to the intake system.

[@DatBlueHusky]

he also needs to build a bell mouth style downpipe for the turbo, the one he has there now is very restrictive

[@802Garage]

Subarus have a manual transmission dipstick. They have a front differential dipstick and on the manual transmission cars the front diff oil is shared with the transmission since it's actually a transaxle.

[@GrantOakes]

This isn't "stupid stuff", this is really good empirical data you're accumulating! Looks like the Kubota wasn't getting high enough on the torque curve with the taller 5th gear set.

[@garthbutton699]

You're right it's not stupid stuff,it's a process of trial and error cause that's how we make progress

[@TheLtVoss]

I once hear the saying the difference between "during stupid shit" and science is written down that happens 😅

[@GoldenCroc]

Not enough exhaust gas to spin up the turbo.

[@Jayf1981]

At highway speeds 75 it would be good u think?

[@Cowboy.underwater]

@@Jayf1981 probably, yeah. The issue is getting to 75 before excessive egt’s melt something. A small dry shot of nitrous would fix that problem, but I think that’s beyond the scope of this project.

[@AskBin]

Subaru has dipsticks on manuals sometimes. Put a new 5spd in a 13 WRX and it had a dipstick for the trans. Plus a lot of the older autos have separate dipsticks for the trans and front diff.

[@deviceconsolidation1824]

Subaru was doing it at least as far back as the EA-81 era. I had three Brats at various times (an '85, an '86, and another '85), and all three of them had dipsticks on their 4-speed manual transmissions. One of them did get a 5-speed transplant from (IIRC) an RX Turbo. Can't remember for sure if it had the dipstick; I want to say that it did, but I'm just not 100% certain.

[@nile.t3446]

My '95 Impreza Wagon with the 5 Speed manual also got one!

[@joseantoniocastrellonjr2568]

You need a new thermostat. Poor fuel economy and power can come from never reaching normal operating temperature.

[@sampatton548]

Came here to say this

[@matthewbutcher203]

That would make sense because somewhere in the era of that Saturn manufacture General Motors bought a significant share of Subaru to gain access to their AWD technology so it's very possible that they were sharing engineers or at least design specifications during this time

[@RazudMezeghis]

Try to drill a hole/channel so the air intake can have more air. Also a sprinkler system on the intercooler helps cooling the turbo air, you can use the window sprayer for that effect, its as know technique here in Portugal that tunners use on projects. Also i would recomend a smaller turbo so you can get more boost at lower rpm, i would recomend the old Garret 1444 used in Kia's diesel cars... in stock form, in the kias, it does 1.3 bars of pressure at 2000rpm.

[@jean-charlesweyland129]

The Lancia Beta had a dipstick on manual transmission, Moss gearbox on old Jaguar had them too.

[@lancecluster]

When I was in High School our next door neighbor had a Lancia Beta coupe. I thought it was such a pretty car, blue w\brown leather interior. Never really knew the neighbor but one day I got up the courage and walked over and asked him about the car and if he had any interest in selling it. Nice guy. Said he wouldn't think of selling it to anyone that didn't have an Italian mechanic on speed dial. He said it was in the shop more than it was on the road. Still wish I purchased it.

[@jean-charlesweyland129]

@@lancecluster The Beta was pretty reliable especially if it had a garage to sleep in and oil was changed every 3500miles (don't expect the electric windows to work that why a crank was provided in the glovebox). Rust is not an issue if the car isn't parked under trees or driven in salt. The Gamma was the real unreliable Lancia, chronic overheating, timing belt jumping tooth when steering at full lock, dimm headlights only getting 10v... the list is long.

[@lancecluster]

@@jean-charlesweyland129 Thank you for bringing the memory back to me.

[@JK061996]

I assume the Citroën CX also had a dipstick since it shared its transmission with the Beta

[@legion3206]

Just out of curiosity take the 4th gear of the MP2 and put it in the 5th gear of the MP3 transmission. I suspect that the economic rev range is higher than what you may expect.

[@TommyboyGTP]

I'd recommend reconnecting the exhaust to let it route behind the car, and disconnecting the muffler in the rear. That should keep the EGT's down and put the exhaust behind the car where it belongs.

[@dennisyoung4631]

Uh, just run a “stepped” tailpipe to the rear, e.g. 1 1/2 about two feet, then 1 5/8 for another two feet, then 1 3/4… 1 7/8…

[@kensmith5694]

I think a much larger diameter pipe would be good if they can make it fit. If they don't want to be too noisy, they may be able to fit a large muffler somewhere. Even carving some of the sheet metal like the floor of the trunk may be in order.

[@KI4HOK]

You really should use the 0.861:1 gear set for 5th with the diesel. It would allow you to get up on boost in 5th and control your egt.

[@Cowboy.underwater]

Came here to say this.

[@bartlevenson7851]

@@Cowboy.underwater This will lower the fuel milage for sure. the problem is that you are too severely underpowered, amd the turbo- the smallest in the world- cannot develop good boost down at 1600 - 1800 Rpm where you will see exponential increases in diesel fuel mileage. an ideal solution, if you can score the 4 cyl. 1105cc Kubota diesel, would be to transfer your turbo and intercooler set up to them and use the tallet gearset. It would be happy and relaxed cruising at 50- 55 mph as the engine has 60 more displacement and torque from the get go and with the turbo it would make some semi serious torque wher you want it, which is below 2000 RPMs. Tony Capana did this back in 1981 in Torrance Ca in 1981 with an old Mazda sedan that he modified with different Kubotas and he achieved 85 mpg cruising at 55, and 101 mpg at 50 mpg. He was running bald tires with 90 PSI, however, so the car must have ridden like hell. He also managed 74 mpg in a VW Beetle with a 1300 cc Kubota. His son, Lloyd, managed nearly 50 mpg in a '74 Camaro with a 3.3 liter Mitsubishi industrial diesel turboed to make 130 hp and 2.56 rear ends plus overdrive so he could cruise at 50 mph at 1200 RPM. When I drove semis in the 1970s, we got 4.2 to 4.7 mpg. Now with engine improvements and aero improvements, drivers are averaging close to 7 mpg, an I know a guy with a 13 liter Volvo with turbo compunding who gets 8.2 mpg cruising at 63 mph! He is only turning 1175 RPM at that speed. That is nearly 1000 RPM slower than we did 45 years ago!

[@adammarlowe5877]

More gears!

[@Cowboy.underwater]

@@bartlevenson7851 I understand want you are saying, and the history lesson is cool, but the point of this project was never fuel mileage, he says so himself in this video. The shorter gear in 5th would improve drivability.

[@louisbabycos106]

Maybe supercharge or even twin charge ( turbo and supercharge ) the vehicle. Two different small superchargers are available. An AMR 300 and an AMR 500 ..Fuel economy will take a hit but boost will build quickly and the vehicle will have more low end boost and torque making it hopefully much more drivable.

[@FM60260]

That is an interesting method of mowing the grass at the end, I usually do it the opposite way and start by doing around the edge a couple of times to get a good space to turn the mower then up and down from one side to the other. It is interesting to see how differently people do it.

[@goosenotmaverick1156]

You'd hate how I mow mine then lol I have almost 9 acres and some of it gets mowed like a yard and some I kinda leave for a while longer, etc. There's all sorts of lengths of grass in my yard and different mow patterns. I don't even mow the same area the same way each time 😂

[@chapa435ify]

That might be the best method for maximizing mower fuel economy and pusher comfort

[@goosenotmaverick1156]

@@chapa435ify that's fair. I mow differently when it gets hotter on the parts I push, so honestly that would make sense. Also I live in Ar-kansas so it's the opposite of flat lol

[@ExodusDaner]

We watch past @17:31 because we wanted to make sure you cut the grass properly and to jam to the sick beats! Great video, as always!

[@RFWPHX]

Why are you watching this. Lawn mowing comment text. I have a hard time sleeping and your voice and content helps me to sleep. Thank you! I woke up again as you were mowing the lawn. Great Job!

[@501isa]

I have commented on it before but porting the exhaust housing of the turbo to match the size of the pipe coming from the exhaust manifold should help it pick up response and possibly get you a couple of PSI of boost while cruising. This could also be helped by making a 2.5” down pipe that’s about 8-12” long coming out of the turbo to act as a expansion chamber for hot exhaust gas allowing the turbo to spool more rabidly as there would be a greater pressure differential across the exhaust turbine.

[@robotcantina8957]

Turbo and manifold mods will likely happen, however after next weeks video we will be putting this car on the back burner and starting a new project. the good news is we will be testing an oversized down pipe in next weeks video.

[@kylereese4822]

@@robotcantina8957 A less restrictive 3 into 1 manifold with bigger bore tubing all the way back to the muffler... should help it breath and cool down the gas temps...

[@rnreajr9184]

I knew that the taller gears wouldn't help. We had an '81 VW Rabbit diesel pickup that came with a 5-speed overdrive trans. A couple of our friends had already bought their Rabbit pickups with the standard 4-speed trans, and were getting over 50MPG (52-53, if I remember correctly). We thought that the 5-speed would get us even higher mileage, but it averaged around 45 MPG, as the little 1.6 liter diesel (no turbo) just didn't have enough oomph to run economically in 5th gear.

[@1MBStudios]

Any manual subaru also has a dipstick for the transmission. It also happens to be the dipstick for the front differential! Its in the left rear of the engine bay, amd on the turbo cars its right under the turbo

[@dustcommander100]

I have always been skeptical when presented with the theory that lower RPM's improve fuel economy. Now i have data! It amazes me that people like you know all this stuff like the fact that 5th gear can be swapped between transmissions. I fesr that i live in greater ignorance than many others!

[@robotcantina8957]

Ignorance is bliss... for most folks. There is a lot of value in doing simple experiments in order to validate what the "experts" are saying. We sort of knew the extreme overdrive wouldent work with this engine but we tried it because it was an easy experiment and others could learn from it.

[@MJorgy5]

Try the 4th gear off the donor trans, if it'll swap over. Maybe it'll kick the RPM up just enough to get some mild boost under load at highway speed and drop those EGT's.

[@marcusdamberger]

I think he did it on 5th gear because it's so damn easy to do. I suspect digging into the rest of the transmission is out of his interest, and a whole lot more complicated.

[@MJorgy5]

@Marcus Damberger I think so too, but that ratio would likely be much better.

[@krusher74]

The 4th gear in the donor isnt even an over drive.

[@CoolDRMONEY2002]

Thanks!

[@Cowboy.underwater]

Looks like the .861 4th gear is a prime candidate to become the 5th gear over-drive in the diesel Saturn.

[@minnesotatomcat]

That dipstick was a godsend on those cars. I had one for 12 years and 335,000 miles and the seals would go bad and leak around the axle shafts and it was handy to check it and fill it easily with a long funnel 👍 only manual trans I’ve ever seen like that.

[@malachihornbaker5869]

Constant fluid changes are neat. They help improve the system life… so long as you don’t need some characteristic of the old fluid *cough cough* (slipping trans) *cough cough*. My wife has a ‘01 Subaru Outback at 330k miles and the trans slips kinda bad but instead of draining and refilling the fluid, we drained about a quart and added Lucas stop slip and some new fluid and it helped some. Hope we can get past 400k!

[@bubba1695]

Cavaliers after 94 had dipsticks in transaxle

[@linearburn8838]

I would almost say use the 4gear ratio gear in 5th if you could .861

[@ocdman202]

So glad you gave a shout out to the old ROUTE 66. Route 66 is one of the most famous highways around the world and the first national highway in the United States.

[@1XSTEALTHTWINTURBOX1]

Yes, yes...!! I'll have what I'm having! I never thought this day would happen😢. Finally eco mods. I definitely wanted to see how MPG can be squeezed out of this application. And then if possible trying to achieve the same goal but then making it mainly quiet & not smelling bad. Just to see how refined it can be. But excellent work 77 MPG that's crazy.

[@OneManAndHisThoughts]

Hi, as someone who’s spends his days fixing kubota engines and the things they are meant to power this is brilliant content Thanks again

[@fredv7487]

Love those diesels. Growing up in Europe in the 70s, they had a few high mpg diesels made by VW, BMW and MB. Thanks for the great info and love the channel. Thanks 👍👍👍👍👍🍻🍻

[@mmllmmll22]

Mercedes OM606 BMW and their 3.0 diesel And VW 1.9TDi

[@fredv7487]

And if I remember right the VW and Beemer got close to or over 50mpg in European form.

[@oszfox]

The lawn looks great and great video as always!

[@zachkelley1830]

I had a 1990 Chevy Cavalier Z24 with a 3.1 5MT. The 5MT, which was the Getrag HM282, had a flip up and pull out style dipstick. I actually replaced it while I owned the car because the original didn't seal up when flipped back down. I also had a very, very rare 1991 Cutlass Supreme International coupe with a 3.4 DOHC V6 and the super rare beefed up big brother of the HM282, the Getrag HM284 5 speed manual. They only put this transmission in the W body chassis (Cutlass, GP, Lumina) though the Regal never got the MT option. They also only ever paired this trans with the 3.4 in these chassis for 2 years with a total production of less than 500 in all 3 cars for the 2 years 91&92. There was supposedly 1 93 GP with a MT. The 284 used a pull style throw out arm like the corvettes had. A cheap clutch was $450. Being only ever paired with the DOHC 3.4, they were geared perfectly for this engine, which had a 500 RPM higher red line than the automatics. When you ran it to the red line, and hit the next gear, it dropped you right in at 3,200 rpm, where the powerband picked up. They also had 25hp more than the autos.The 284 also had the same flip up style dipstick.

[@ranga2050]

Something right in-line with your intercooler placement: Subarus have until very recently had dipsticks for everything. Including the manual transmission (the autos also had one in the front diff, which ran manual transmission fluid separately to the auto box itself)

[@jlucasound]

That was absolutely fascinating watching the fast motion of you cutting your dirt! 😄

[@AutoCrete]

OK, the lawn mowing outro did it. I thought I'd mention Thunderhead 289. He grafted a lawn mower carburettor on to a Ford 302 and got some pretty insane mileage out of a Maverick. Not nearly as good as yours but still pretty impressive for speeds up to 75 MPH. kzbin.info/www/bejne/fKjLfq1ooLdnptk

[@digitalchaos1980]

Some videos back, probably last year around this time, he addresses the very video you posted. Interesting stuff! 😁

[@bityard]

I, too, thought I saw you putting off-road gas into the tank on the previous video... I had to back up and watch it again once or twice to see that it was just the color of either the funnel or the gas can influencing how the camera picked up the color of the gas.

[@austinfleck8664]

13:35 I had a 2004 Subaru wrx that had a dipstick for the manual transmission. Was very cool never seen another car with that until now.

[@bigblockmaro1]

I don’t like Saturns and not particularly interested in small diesel engines but found this interesting and fun. Nice job.

[@ryaj2356]

Saturns are great little tanks for a first car kinda driver.

[@miketoney1660]

your channel is great, I have the same engine for an upcoming project, do you happen to remember the stock setting for the fuel pump enrichment adjustment? thanks

[@robotcantina8957]

The exact measurement is unknown because the double nuts came loose when we first removed the screw. The likely measurement is about 33.5 to 34mm.

[@alexjoyce1276]

Questionable upgrades are my favourite type of upgrades!!!!

[@Mrshotshell]

Running shorter tires would help with the lower overdrive gear and might be worth testing if you can find short enough tires and wheels that fit

[@krusher74]

that would just make it the same as the other 5th gear. pointless

[@shadymaint1]

The only difference between on road and off road diesel fuel is red dye and taxes.

[@darrenschmitz2712]

I enjoy you channel because your goal is to have fun with cars and use "cheap" experiments to learn something. The nearly free gear swap is great example. One thought when doing mileage tests is since you fuel tank is so small it might be quicker just to remove it and weigh it before and after the test to get amount of fuel used.

[@CriticoolHit]

I can't wait to see the gains that are hidden in the restrictive exhaust AND the turbo housing needing tending.

[@Skupik1]

Get suspension slammed and put wheel well covers. Helps a lot with aerodynamics.

[@jeffzekas]

Jimbo, since you asked: My manual transmission ‘99 Subaru Impreza has a dipstick on the transmission

[@KidChaosH2O]

I have to speak for the masses and we want to see more questionable modifications 🤣

[@jamesringler987]

Like nitrous oxide

[@KidChaosH2O]

@@jamesringler987 We like Kubota engines we don't want to destroy it lol.

[@jamesdong8179]

it's nice seeing someone take a radical opposite of most other vehicular content on YT, trying to push for greatest fuel efficiency instead of max power. It's refreshing Also, thanks for metric units

[@bryandickerson5365]

Not stupid - very cool! I also own a rig with a Kubota swap, except mine is a 1948 Allis Chalmers Model G tractor with a 20hp Kubby diesel. Such an awesome upgrade over the original 11hp Allison gas engine!

[@kob8634]

Holy-f that's a convenient transmission gear location!!! Sure wasn't expecting that! :) "crew cab" lol hahahah

[@n4thawin]

You should do the same test in the .861 gear to see if you can improve it. Sometimes a higher RPM with less load is better MPG. (your current test proved this already)

[@coolcreeper9874]

The early 90's 3.4TDC (DOHC) GM engine in the lumina, grand prix, etc had a dipstick on the manual trans that was used only for that application -- the manual was dropped in the 93-94 range and only came with the electronic 4 speed automatic.

[@DkpProductions]

Someone buy this man some scooba gear so he can roll up the windows

[@Andy47357]

that new overdrive just moves the power band for 5th up to 65 where it wants to be happy

[@madmax2069]

Yup

[@krusher74]

has he ever dynoed the engine to see at what rpm it makes peak TQ?

[@mikeharms6213]

Thanks for your time and consideration. Love your channel and wouldn't miss an episode.

[@taz7264]

"Before we get started, here's new OD gears!".. i love how you pull things out the bag the way you do.. now, i know that you know.. ;) anyways i know why things are progressing this way..its really fun! so I'm ready to see what's next..thankyou and keep us going!

[@hendo337]

You remind me of my uncle from Upstate NY, he always had an affinity for messing around with old junk, foreign cars, bikes, jeeps, jet skis. He was really good guy. He always was willing to share time with me from the time I was a kid until I was nearly 40 the last time I saw him. He passed away last month at the age of 62. Thanks for the stream of interesting content and don't address the negative people anymore.

[@ThePaulv12]

That was great. I can't belive I have to wait another whole week LOL. That OD cover, you don't need to make a gasket. Ensure the surfaces are spotlessly clean and dry with an aggressive solvent like a brake cleaning type solvent, then use Permatex grey silicone. Many Japanese gearboxes never actually had gaskets OEM. For the metal on metal machined surfaces they used a product called Threebond red-brown silicone. Permatex grey is a fine substitute if you can't get Threebond. This is how good the grey silicone is, V12 Jaguar engines replacing a valve cover gasket is a major operation. I never put paper gaskets back in, I just use Permatex grey and the screws holding the covers can never come loose as the gasket compresses, so they never leak. Also there is no osmosis through the gasket material. Customers ask me how I get them to stay so dry and I have to tell them it's a trade secret otherwise they worry.

[@bobirving6052]

I have worked on this and sometimes there is a clearance issue with the shaft oiler in the cover. It is stamped sheet metal and can wear through when it hits the shaft. Then metal shavings get in the tranny and your bearings can fail from running dry. Sucks to lose a tranny.

[@johnramsey2009]

120K subscribers! Congratulations Jimbo! I remember subscribing to this channel when you were around 5k and being so impressed at the video production value. Haven’t missed a video yet! Loved the Honda and the Saturn videos.

[@thedude7726]

Ill never forget building my 95 civic and used a trans out of a 96 and the difference in gear ratio made a *HUGE* difference.

[@taylorsutherland6973]

Manuals with dipsticks! Old SAAB 900s had that as well. Oil pan and transaxle were also all one unit. Clutch in yhe front, just behind the radiator....all strange, but easy to service.

[@dirttdude]

we had a MPG competition in college, can still make a ton of aerodynamic improvements and modifications. We put a 'tail' on the back of the car and streamlined the bottom of the car and tape up the wheels so they aren't chopping at the air...

[@mommapanda5736]

The views of the newly planted crops that you drive by remind me of the farms and fields of my youth.

[@73Bugman]

You can’t screw it up. Angelina sings to your soul and never disappoints . Try “I’m still holding out for you “ age 10. Her new release “love don’t let me go “ the bare feet story will make you cry for an hour. Angelina is a truly an awe inspiring person.

[@davemchugh7187]

Nice mpg figure. I think mpg is more important than destroying expensive tires. Very interesting.

[@fastinradfordable]

Not to mention tire smoke is 1000x as toxic as breathing pure exhaust

[@Tommysmess]

As the owner of a geo metro I Definitely agree with you being able to travel alot more farther and often for 10x less then my other car is why I'm keeping this ugly thing on the road, and it's fun to rip around

[@jeffdeines1725]

As someone that has a car that can destroy the tires at will, and MPG *used* to be very important to me, to the point I researched hypermiling, aerodynamics, tuning, engine mods, etc... Now that I'm in a better place fiscally and can afford to feed the ponies, I'll never forget the lessons learned from the research (because they almost all translate to faster racecar), but being able to blow someone's doors off is so much more important to me than a few bucks at the pump. And yes, I have a high fuel economy tune ready to go, but I don't use it because I'd rather be able to indulge in the need for speed with the E30 tune that will absolutely thrill. That being said, the tune I run will reduce power to reduce slip better than the factory ever could, so I get the same acceleration, but I don't go thru a set of drive tires every 10k miles.

[@jeffdeines1725]

​@@fastinradfordable why are you purposely breathing tire smoke?! 😅

[@wannabeetiger]

I wanted to hear the engine only during the acceleration tests! I liked the video. Keep up the great content!

[@blackericdenice]

I have a 2016 2wd F150 with the 2.7 ecoboost v6. There is a hwy 62 miles around Atlanta. I circled this road @ 55 mph. I get 30 mpg. I go by refilling the tank.

[@greggc8088]

Man, you got me with that old Cobra Jet hood scoop. I've got to build a Saturn now. And it will be a good old simple diesel so it can run on just about anything. Especially zombie blood because there's going to be a surplus in the impending zombie apocalypse. Thanks for sharing your project for our entertainment. 13:46-Had a Ford Escort once where the fill hole was the hole the speedometer gear bolted into. Great riding economy car but leaked fluids all over the place. Made a 100 mile round trip daily for about 4 years for a thousand dollar purchase price due to a slipping clutch which I replaced in my carport.

[@VinnyMartello]

I guess you could call it a “not Rod”. It is the antithesis of a hot Rod. But I absolutely love it.

[@AshGTE]

I just drove a New golf from Hamburg Germany to Saint-Nazaire France. About 840 miles (14 hours). It was fully loaded with equipment and i didn't try to drive slow. It managed 4.5 litres per 100km. 52 mpg. Total comfort, air con on all the time. I was pretty shocked tbh. I appreciate the work you're doing.

[@TheeSurfer]

I like the estate Saturn could you make some videos on that please?

[@enolastraight577]

Want to lower rolling resistance? Put space-saver donuts on all corners: the narrow tires have a smaller tread patch and can be safely aired up to 60 psi.

[@youllnevertakemealive2833]

Hands down this is the best YuTube rec of the year so far, hot diggity what an amazingly nuts idea to which I now aspire.

[@kansasrose2909]

Hot diggity! We all aspire higher with ROBOT CANTINA! Hands down and THUMBS UP!👍👍👍

[@poucxs9246]

There is a type of wrap or "tape" that you can fold around your exhaust pipes which is used in racing, the idea being that the temperature inside the exhaust stays as stable as possible. ALso, if you ever consider building a economical kitcar then VW has some nice concepts, just like MG ( EX 181) - cool stuff!

[@austinmaxi]

Ideally needs a smaller turbo, or at least a smaller turbine housing so you have some boost down low to pull that higher gear. You could try adding that supercharger you have with aftercooling and plumb the boost from the turbo into the intake of the blower along with more fueling..

[@popefacto5945]

Both of my Pontiacs (1986 Sunbird and 1987 6000 STE) had transmission dipsticks.

[@Koda-Kitikawa]

To answer your question about "if anyone else has seen a manual transmission with a dipstick". Yes. Manual transmission sunfires 1995-2002 have that exact same dipstick

[@vaughnmanagan2740]

Brilliant work! Exceptional detail. Also, hats off to showing the actual results of an experiment rather than just the positive ones. .

[@joshg1244]

Love the 5th gear swap on the Twin cams. Worked well

[@phillipauberzinsky7807]

Subaru manual transmissions have a dip stick for checking and filling the oil.

[@rippatoe50]

Love to watch your videos and see how your progress in your quest for improved mileage. Keep them coming as I'm telling others about what you are doing.

[@atlasgames4275]

Your videos are always intriguing to watch and its fun seeing how much you can pull out of that adorable little diesel engine. And to that effect to me it seems like out of everything that's on the car at the moment the biggest problem is probably in the exhaust system and that T shaped log exhaust probably doing the most harm, two of the cylinders are effectively doing anti scavenging and pushing exhaust back into the cylinders and the backpressure is probably not helping the 3rd cylinder either, since it's such a short distance between the turbo and the exhaust it wouldn't be particularly expensive or difficult to make a simple exhaust header out of some steel tube even if it ends up looking like a chickens foot I think it would be worth while considering, especially since its likely severely hampering the turbocharger and fuel economy of the vehicle in general :D

[@fadingbeleifs]

Since it's getting warmer outside, you could experiment with evaporative cooling with the intercooler, by rigging up a setup to where it would mist water onto the intercooler under acceleration.. maybe three or four old bug sprayer nozzles?

[@albi2k88]

That saturn needs roof scoop too for interior ventilation.

[@bobirving6052]

😆

[@johnhasse3995]

When you start building these,,,,, how much will they cost????

[@robotcantina8957]

Definitely a cool car, but I have no intention of building them to sell. All the info you need to build your own in in this video series.

[@gregholloway2656]

Great video, Jimbo! Maybe a smaller turbo would allow it to spin up at cruising speeds, enabling the modified 5th gear to achieve better fuel economy. 👍

[@kensmith5694]

I agree. You may end up using the "waste gate" a lot more while getting up to speed but cruising is most of the drive.

[@Grushnerd]

My 2008 1.4 tdi vw polo remapped from 85hp to 105hp did 3.8L/100km loaded heavily for a two week long camping trip around ireland, very mixed driving with some really heavy hill climbs and offroading! Its in my family for 12 years and we have done 130k out of 170k miles on it and it has only broken down once due do electrical fault, ran out of battery. It even has stock clutch and feels like new.

[@1.515g]

What A fun little project. Makes me want to look at our old saturn vue.

[@RusticShine]

i am not familiar at all with saturns but is it possible to take the 0.861 4th gear ratio out of the donor transmission and replace what with the 6th gear .730? I know it might be a lot of work not even sure if possible but i think that would be the perfect ratio for 5th for fuel economy and power.

[@robotcantina8957]

The ideal ratio located at fourth gear cannot be harvested because 1st 2nd 3rd and 4th gear are part of the gear cluster and the gears cannot be separated. It would be an awesome ratio but its just not possible.

[@a427rracer]

The lower ratio 5th gear would probably work at 80mph but definitely under powered to push it there.

[@Sadertheoriginal]

i would try to get mp2s 4th gear ratio as 5th gear for mp3

[@TheBlaert]

I did a similar exercise a few years ago with a VW Polo TDi. Lightened, streamline, tuned. This has made me want to go for it again so I've shortlisted either a Vauxhall Corsa 1.3 CDTi with a 90bhp engine and 6-speed gearbox or an old VW Lupo 1.2 TDi

[@hojnikb]

smaller diesel engine wont necesserly yield bigger mpg gains. Those are not gas engines, they have no throttle. They will consumer as much as you feed them. a bigger engine will most of the times yield _better_ economy if you drive faster (like highway speeds). Out of the two, i'd go with 1.2tdi as it seems more reliable and can be tuned some.

[@TheBlaert]

@@hojnikb My reasoning is they're relatively light cars with decent power from the factory. I had an Astra with the same gearbox and engine as the Corsa and it did almost 60mpg average from the factory when driven right. The 6 speed box in them is great. The Polo I modified years ago was lightened and streamlined as much as i could do, mapped for economy and I got almost 80 mpg from it. It was a tatty car with not much MOT left so I got it very cheap, just like the Corsa or Lupo I'll be buying.

[@hojnikb]

@@TheBlaert I mean, it great, but not that great. I get ~80MPG(UK) easily with my 190HP 1,5tonne 3er no problem under careful highway driving. And that has way more power and comfort than any of the above mentioned cars. I even did 90MPG(UK) once with very careful hypermiling. Similarly, i get about the same economy (maybe a 1-2 MPG more at best) with a 1.5TDCI focus, which is both lighter and has less power. So it's not all about weight and power, at least not for highway driving. Aero, gearing, torque down low and engine efficiency also plays a very large role in getting good efficiency. A small engine can be efficient at low city speeds, but once you hit highway speeds it's efficiency can drop significantly and thus a bigger, more torque-y engine can actually yield better results.

[@TheBlaert]

@@hojnikb I get what you're saying yes but bear in mind the Polo cost me £140 and all these cars have older diesel technology. For example currently I have a 2005 Passat 1.9TDi with 100k miles and a good 170bhp remap which rarely gets more than 55mpg. I have a 30 mile commute across B-roads so I never get near a decent road either. I would have got more mpg from the Polo but as it turns out it had 2 dodgy PD injectors which were expensive to refurbish back then. I only do these things A: for a bit of fun, B: because it doesn't cost a lot of money It would actually be interesting to see a manufacturer do something like this with a modern diesel to see the results, kind of like what VW did with the Lupo 3L

[@Bigbyrd7340]

Here's a tip if you're not producing at least 3lbs of boost then remove the turbo and check your performance, you see the back pressure caused by the turbo means you WILL NOT see any gains but losses of performance fuel mileage or power until you hit 3lbs of boost or more. With a diesel engine even that one in a car you want at least 5lbs of boost at optimum rpm and speed, we call it the sweat spot like you talked about the motor wasn't happy Play with the boost controler or just remove the turbo and see what happens. I think you will be very surprised, me I would play with the boost because you could improve your 0 to 60 time and not hurt long distance fuel mileage, just get your boost and afr working together! I'm a big rig diesel technician by trade 40 years. Your doing really good by the way I'm very impressed 👏

[@rowdyhoundsman]

I’m still very impressed with the fuel economy of that little engine! I really can’t wait to see your final results with it. I’ve decided that when I rebuild mine this summer (hopefully), I will use the same turbo but keep the fuel rack turned down around 32 mm or whatever it was when you first installed the turbo. Just as a reminder, my D722 will be going into a Max II amphibious 6 wheeler that I’ve started building into a mini snow cat. I started searching for D722 upgrades on here and found your channel. I’m glad I did and keep up the good work!

[@robotcantina8957]

32mm with a turbo is likely the sweet spot for this engine. Good luck with your project !

[@slozy]

My 99 subaru forester gt has a dip stick on its manual gear box. So handy

[@joeolivas4941]

Fun experiment would be changing different size turbos on this engine see how the power comes in smaller turbos tend to spool faster than a big turbo

[@martinbrousseau2560]

Gale Banks doubles the size of the exhaust… doing so in a gradual slow increasing the dimension in inches per feet seems to be the best.

[@mommapanda5736]

Making decisions is one of the biggest challenges in life. Getting stuck in indecision leads to lost opportunities, leadership failure, damaged relationships, and tremendous anxiety. I usually make the very good decision to watch ROBOT CANTINA on the weekend. no regrets.