You need to send the car for checking at the SC immediately. The car should stop ASAP.

LOL... Just kidding.

It's like that wan. Cos the top gear is quite high, when you release the throttle the car will still maintain the highest gear and won't get affected so much by engine braking effect. Unless it detects a slope, it will change down. But I find that the ECU is programmed more for eco driving, hence it will only drop gear after a while. Best to drop gear on your own via paddle shift.

Using that to your advantage, you can feather the throttle for maximum gas mileage. Switch the MFD view over to "Instant" and watch the bar and how it moves when you exercise your right foot.

MFD is short for Multi Function Display. Ya it's the trip button. You can cycle through it one by one, very informative. For FC, I also take into account my average speed and duration of the engine being switched on. I reset those as well as the average reading at every fill up. Example, if my average speed is around 40km/h and above, my FC is usually between 9.5-10 litres/100km. If it's 35km/h or slower, it will be around 10-11 litres/100km. Knowing how many hours the engine has been running also helps tell the story a bit. The most important IMO is the Instant meter, this one tells you the amount of fuel being pumped into the engine. If you're monitoring the Instant display all the time you will hate being stuck in traffic jams lol...

Anyway it's just fun facts, not crucial

If you don't know how to do it, then yes, you will drive like an Ah Pek. Do I sound like an Ah Pek to you? I've got Guangdao LV, Guangdao Photo Conducted, grounding, Pivot Spark Earth, OZ Alleggerita 17' wheels that are 3kg lighter than stock, Pipercross panel filter, and I've ripped open my headlights and retrofitted Morimoto projector HIDs myself. So I'm very much into making my car run better than stock.

I drive faster than most cars on the road on my way to work, sometimes have to hit the brakes quite often, and yet maintain a steady 9-10 litres/100km typically. The Instant gauge will not tragically transform you into an Ah Pek nor will it make your car run on a wet rag. What it reveals is how the engine uses fuel, so that you can develop a better way to make use of what's in your tank to go as far as possible. To me, it's not about how many litres of fuel I use, but how far I can go with that small tank. If they built a larger tank in there and let me drive 600km in town traffic, I'd be happier.

Everybody dreams of a white car until a year later when they start to malas to take care of whitey. Then whitey becomes yellowy then browny, then finally become titanium silver.

Better just go for titanium silver and save the hassle LOL...

You seem to think that it's a problem. Isn't it nicer to slow down slowly rather than harsh and abrupt? More refined ma. Yours is 1.6 or 2.0? I think the 2.0 will have a more gentle slowing down than the 1.6 due to higher gearing on the 2.0.

Well, I'm not the best gauge for a 6-speeder lol... Then again, the point that I was trying to get across was that one can have loads of fun and still have a decent (not best) FC. IMO the items I mentioned that were changed on my car do not impact FC as much as it does performance. For long outstation runs, maybe, but being faced with a wall of cars five days a week, and doing short runs most of the time, I think I'm doing ok. Not to mention redlining every other day Besides, lighter wheels are good for acceleration but not so good for long distance runs as they tend to lose momentum faster. Those electronic gizmos? I don't think they work too well below 3,000 rpm lol... Same goes to the aftermarket filter. Lower rpms only need that much CFM of air flow, so it's not meant to be a fuel saving upgrade, rather a go-faster add-on.

Since we're on the topic of sharing, here's what I do. I don't like to remain in low gears for long, neither does the car lol... I don't accelerate too gently, just fast enough to engage the next gear asap. I maintain steady throttle, which in lower gears the "Instant" meter will show me at around 14-15l/100km. Within 10 secs or so, I'm already on 6th, doing about 70-80km/h. At this point, I ease off the throttle to cruise at 80-90km/h, while feathering the throttle to keep speeds up. The Instant meter will then be showing between 4-6l/100km. I try to keep this speed or sometimes when the road opens up I go further to 100-110km/h. This can be done with less fuel consumed. I usually maintain throttle pressure such that the Instant meter is reading 10l/100km until I reach my desired speed. Then it's back to 4-6l/100km. My contention is the longer you remain at a lower Instant reading, the less fuel you will use. I've been able to maintain a steady 5l/100km at speeds of up to 120km/h on the Federal H/way. Imagine driving like that all the way to Penang, the FC would be phenomenal! The best tank I had so far was 8.3l/100km, still fully urban driving but I only redlined once throughout the tank. Ya, I need to grow up lol...

Same goes to uphill climbs. It's actually very hard to keep the Instant reading below 10l/100km while climbing as the car is not a featherweight (neither am I!). I reckon that 15 secs at 15l/100km is less taxing than 30 secs at 10l/100km. Also, by maintaining a higher climb speed, forward momentum is greater than gravity, which helps the car along rather than being in a lower gear and dragging the car uphill.

Sorry if I sounded harsh for that is not my intention either. I guess I didn't give enough information and that may have led you to think that I was suggesting to keep the Instant reading low all the time. It's just that with the Instant reading, I was able to study the engine's behaviour and how the ECU governs fuel delivery. For instance, I'm able to tell at what speeds the injectors are totally shut off while cruising to a stop. It's actually quite fun to see that gauge go to 0l/100km, it's like even better than a Hybrid! Free miles and smiles

Why I brought this up is because many drivers tend to shift to Neutral when coming to a stop. Or, if you were driving too slow before releasing the throttle, the car won't shut off the fuel at all. The moment the gears are disengaged, the engine needs to find other means to keep from stalling, hence fuel is used. Keeping the car in gear, momentum drives the engine, therefore, no fuel is needed at that point. This I believe, is only a fairly recent development (prolly only the last 8yrs or so). Older EFI cars (no need to mention carbies) tend to feed the engine regardless of cruising to a stop or otherwise. I've found that to enjoy a longer fuel cutoff period, my car has to be cruising from 80km/h or faster. With a downhill gradient, I can get it to cutoff even at 60km/h. Downshifting to 5 or 4 helps. For clarity's sake, cruising means taking my foot off the throttle and letting the car's forward momentum keep the car moving, while keeping the car in gear.

Anyway thanks for your clarification and hope to share more nuggets of common wisdom with you

Peace.

Thanks, I'm still learning about the car. Thankfully, no Korean-inspired surprises lol... It behaves like any other Japmobile out there in terms of engine response and driving behaviour. IMO the Forte could have been a better handling car if it came with multi-link suspension at the back instead of trailing arms, but other than that I have no complaints.

I have yet (touch wood!) to experience any judder while coasting (actually this is the accepted term for moving forward without throttle input, and not cruising as I typed last night in Zombie mode). This juddering was quite apparent on my previous ride, a 2006 Civic FD. At that time, I could replicate that judder quite consistently. All I had to do was drive off from standstill, throttle off, coast a bit then step on the brakes. Very common to encounter this sort of start stop driving in daily traffic.

What happens (I believe, based on observing the tacho) is the moment I step off the gas, the ECU allowed the car to coast, since it detected sufficient forward momentum. Then when I hit the brakes to come to a complete stop, there is a rapid momentum loss. The tacho would dip to around 550rpm before coming back up to 700-750rpm in idling mode. It is during this brief moment that a slight judder could be felt from the engine, being the transition period between coasting and idling. It's as if the ECU was a bit drunk and responded too slow to the change. The faster I brake the more pronounced the effect.

A similar juddering effect also happens when the AC in my Civic kicked in during idle. The tacho dips a bit, causing a mild shiver, before the ECU sends a signal to increase fuel to counter the load from the AC. Sucky. My friend's Myvi has a more elegant solution. Just before the AC kicks in, the ECU raises engine speed slightly, then when the AC kicks in, idling speed comes back down. In this case, no juddering is felt since the engine never dips below 600rpm.

With the Forte, this occurrence has yet to manifest itself, probably in a few years when the fuel management system starts to age it could happen. It could also be due to clogged injectors or a clogged petrol filter. Only time will tell.

As for your case, I believe it has nothing to do with idle shudder/judder since the rpm is still quite high. AFAIK, since our AC compressor is the rotary type, the kick in effect is very gentle (as is the case with my car) compared to the piston type. Then, from 110km/h down to 90km/h, the car should still be in 6th so I don't think downshifting is the cause.

IINM, what you're experiencing could be the transition between acceleration (pulling the car forward) and coasting (engine being pushed by the car). When there is no positive energy to propel the car forward, the car is in fact slowing down on its own, being dragged by various loads until eventually coming to a complete stop. Try this, switch to the Instant mode, then observe the reading when you throttle off. It won't cutoff the fuel immediately, taking a brief one to two secs before you see that meter slowly go down to zero. In my case, yes I can feel a change between pulling and pushing forces (engine braking effect) but it can't be described as a judder.

If the juddering gets worse over time, it could be a sign of premature wear on the gearbox or somewhere within the drivetrain. Why not try out somebody else's Forte and compare? Maybe go to a dealer and test drive

Correct me, but I doubt the car is running lean as it might overheat the engine. In fact, running lean would actually make the car more powerful. But just curious, how did you come to the conclusion that our cars are running lean? And in what ways is it irritating you? My interest is piqued

As for gear ratios, I find first and second a little too short. Would have preferred being able to touch 100km/h on 2nd

Hmm, so far I've never gotten back any rebate for this even though I bought my own number. Did I get cheated?

Actually, there's more to why I would have preferred a longer 1st and 2nd, not merely for drag racing. Most of the time, for normal launches, the GB tends to shift from 1st to 2nd a tad too early. Example, making a U-turn. Before I can even complete the turn, 2nd gear is engaged. There's this u-turn that I take everyday on my way to work. Immediately after the turn it's an uphill climb. Starting a climb at the bottom of the rev range in 2nd, is quite sad really lol...

Speaking of ol skool rides brings to mind an old Mazda 323 1.5-litre Twin Carburetor I had last time. It was really fun to drive, akin to having an enlarged throttle body by today's standards. However, it was a b1tch to tune, because each carb served two cylinders and I had to make sure that they were tuned every now and then. I actually had a spark plug window car tuning device (it was a spark plug with a built in window with which to view the combustion chamber as the engine was running. By adjusting the individual idle screws I could lean out or enrich the mixture. The resultant color of the combustion (light blue or yellow) indicated if the car was idling lean or rich. Fun, right? I guess I'm one of the few ppl who's actually ever had a look inside a real combustion chamber while the engine was running lol. Whenever the combustion window revealed a light blue flame, upon checking of the exhaust emission by hand, there would be condensation spitting out from the tip. I also "tuned" my nose to smell a rich idle. Just a quick whiff, nothing serious (I hope!).

I probably used more fuel for tuning than I ever saved from tuning LOL...

As for the Forte, I get what you mean now about a lean mixture. However, two things come to mind. Firstly, since there is a Cat Con in the exhaust downstream, I perfectly understand if the ECU needs to keep a tight range on AFR. Too lean and the Cat Con won't be effective, too rich and it might get destroyed. Did your previous car come with a Cat Con? I am inclined to believe that the difference in exhaust temps at the exhaust tip of a car with and without a Cat could affect butt dyno assessment of AFR, since a Cat typically multiplies exhaust temps upon exit. Besides, modern ECUs tend to "swing" within a range of AFR values, lean one minute and slightly rich the next. It doesn't stay in a fixed position. So it could be possible that while you were assessing the temp at the exhaust tip it was in the "lean" cycle.

All that was said in the previous para, referred to idle AFR. The second thing that comes to mind, is AFR on the go. We can't really tell if a car was lean or rich during different stages of throttle input without hooking the car up to a wide band 02 sensor and a laptop via OBD-II. Then there is the CVVT to consider. I learned this fairly recently, after having spoken to a renown local tuner who's been doing wonders for many different makes of cars. The thing is, all cars out of the factory come with a generic tune that caters to the lowest common denominator, i.e., the worst case scenario. This is how aftermarket tuners are able to tune up individual rides to their highest potential. In the meantime, we have a generic tune that is both safe and economical. On whether a rich or lean condition would be better for performance, we can't really say. According to many of this tuner's satisfied customers, not only did they gain a more potent engine, they also returned better gas mileage too.

As for mid-range "growl", typically an engine is made to run rich during wide open throttle. Not sure about partial throttle, but it definitely isn't at stoichiometry for sure. As I mentioned earlier, with the ECU governing pretty much everything except your right foot, things aren't as clear cut as it used to be. You might find that enriching the AFR might not give you the result that you seek. To get what you want, it's best to consult the expert tuners. I might do it at a later stage once I'm done modding the IHE

Cheers.

In a nutshell, peak torque simply means the rate of an engine's acceleration has now peaked, but it doesn't mean you can't go further until the peak hp because the engine is still pulling the car forward. HP and torque are inter-related and shouldn't be treated as different forces acting on your engine.

Here's an explanation of the relationship between torque and hp.

HP = (Torque x RPM) / 5250

Read this for a better understanding: http://www.largiader.com/articles/torque.html

So in future, don't be misled that torque is for pickup and hp is for top speed. It confuses people into believing these two figures are somehow different forces.

HP is simply, the amount of work done over a period of time.

Torque is simply, how fast you can do the work over a period of time.


Based on the above formula, I calculated that at 4,300rpm, the Forte 2.0 is generating around 117hp. To do your own calculations, first you need to convert Nm into lb-ft and PS into hp. Use this http://www.mr2ownersclub.com/converter.htm


Simply put, there is nothing wrong in going above the peak torque when you're gunning for max acceleration, because if you were to shift at that point, your rpm will drop, so will hp.

Anyway, there is a rev limiter programmed into the ECU. If we weren't supposed to redline it, the engineers would have put the rev limit at 4,300rpm and not 6,200rpm.

Not a problem because it is within 3% difference. It will be a bit more comfy but you will feel the car to be slightly sluggish compared to before.

Glad to know a fellow technically inclined bro gets my point

Adding on to what you said, when you upshift at redline, the engineers have geared the car so as to take full advantage of the torque curve for the subsequent gear. You will find that upon upshifting at redline (which the ECU would normally do if you apply WOT), the next gear will start close to the torque peak of the engine. If you upshift at a lower rpm, the next gear, even though it's in the range where the torque figure is still climbing steeply, can't generate that much hp because of the lack of rpm, so the net effect is a slower climb.

This is even more important for a 4-speeder since the further spacing of each gear means you can't afford to lose any revs. Shifting 1,000rpm too early means you start 1,000rpm lower on the next gear.

Cheers and happy revving

Squeaky dashboard? Blame it on our roads. Not many cars are safe against squeaks, not even the mighty Jap cars. And considering our market's appetite for low profile tyres, even harder to escape from squeaks. Just invest in a good sound system. In fact, the one on the Forte is not too bad already

I think dashboard noise depends on quite a few factors:

1) How tightly screwed together the car is from the factory.

2) Your usual daily route, does it contain a lot of humps and uneven roads?

3) Based on (2) above, at what time of day do you pass through those humps/uneven roads?

4) How high is your tyre pressure?

5) Do you normally drive alone, and if so, what's your weight?

Regarding CKD/CBU issue, I was told that even now, the so-called CKD version is just to assemble the doors, windscreen, bonnet and boot. Most of the other parts are imported as a CKD kit, i.e, chassis with engine, GB, wiring etc already built up from S.Korea. Something like how the construction industry does it, pre-fab components.

The nearest would be at Glenmarie.

But did you test the Inspira?

Then no need to see d. Get the Forte SX and change the seats to leather and add BK if you like. Good enuff