Photos: Ecomodders make fuel good to the last drop

Darin Cosgrove spent several hundred dollars souping up a 1998 Geo Metro he purchased for $5,000. An early step in the process involves building prototype parts, like the boattail pictured, out of cardboard. Removing the roof rack alone added 7 mpg to fuel economy, which now averages about 62 mpg.

"I wanted to go to the extreme end of the fuel-economy spectrum," Cosgrove said. "To do that, you either have to buy a hybrid or go back 10 years or so and look for Honda models or Geo Metros."

Benjamin Jones, a 19-year-old Dartmouth College student, launched Ecomodder.com with Cosgrove. He paid $2,000 several years ago for an automatic 1991 Honda CRX HF because he liked its aerodynamics and efficient power train options, but he wanted it to get more than 35 miles per gallon.

The self-described "environmental nut" converted the car to a manual transmission, then made subtle body modifications like adding a grill block to prevent air from blowing into the radiator, and installing lightweight aluminum wheels.

As a result, Jones' Honda now gets up to 55 highway miles per gallon. He spent about 200 hours and $300 on the project.