Hood weatherstripping

[Honz24]

So I cut out like 5 inches of the weatherstripping on the hood in front of the air intake. As a test I then put a little flashlight inside the intake scoop and closed the hood and could clearly see the flashlight shining through.
So now after driving about 500 miles my fuel economy has gone from an average of 21.9mpg to 24.5mpg...
The only thing that has changed is the removal of the weatherstripping in front of the intake.
The only other explanation I can think of is that I dont know when the gas stations switch from winter gas to summer gas in southern wisconsin? But if they just switched that might explain the fuel economy gains as well?

 

[luigisho]

Are you talking about the big hood pad on the underside of the hood?

Yeah, you will see better performance with a summer blend. Especially if you track it closely or use the same place to fill up. At least when I'm tracking it I try and use the same place to get a comparison over time. Is it important to do that? Only for my OCD brain.

 

[Honz24]

Are you talking about the big hood pad on the underside of the hood?

Yeah, you will see better performance with a summer blend. Especially if you track it closely or use the same place to fill up. At least when I'm tracking it I try and use the same place to get a comparison over time. Is it important to do that? Only for my OCD brain.

 

[Honz24]

 

[luigisho]

Oh that's a newer model. You will get better responses in the Gen 4 SHO section. Couple sections down. This is the 89-95 cars section.

 

[Honz24]

Oh my bad