redneck auto aero mods. (car lover warning)

[Dave Shepard]

Paul, duct taping your house will not improve the mileage of your car, it will only make your neighbors nervous.

 

[PCTREE]

The neighbors are already very nervous and my Mrs hangs her head in shame


Yup duct tape was just a quick and easy way to test the theory. What I really wanted to do but ran out of time and wasn't sure it would hold up was duct tape the rear fender wells closed, that I think would really help. I think I will do that with some ABS plastic and screw it in. After that Im going to fab up a foam "boat tail" for the rear which Im hoping will give me huge gains....

 

[stig]

Are you by any chance related to James Watt?

 

[Thor's Hammer]

This is one of my facebook friends. They have built a cool looking electric car that achieves 207mpg.

http://illuminatimotorworks.org/

 

[Reddog]

OK so last trip I took car got 47.5 MPG. Admitedly it was in feb when ambient temps were lower hence air was denser.

OK can I get a drum roll please. So I drove 594 miles and used 10.024 gallons = 59.25 MPG

I can't believe I got a 20% improvement with my 1/2 hour with duct tape.

So you got about 5 mpg better if you had run a test standard in the same air temps. Diesel's all get worse mileage the colder the ambient air temp is.

Cool project.
Your next mod to see a huge improvement is to chop and channel it and add a ground effect skirt.

 

[SkwerI]

This is one of my facebook friends. They have built a cool looking electric car that achieves 207mpg.

http://illuminatimotorworks.org/

If the car is electric, then what are you using a gallon of in order to drive 207 miles?

 

[CurSedVoyce]

Pretty neat...but there has to be a better way than duct tape .

It's called racing tape :roll:

 

[Thor's Hammer]

If the car is electric, then what are you using a gallon of in order to drive 207 miles?

I should have put the little 'equivalent' in. Its quite easy to cross correlate the two, as liquid fuels have a measurable calorific value by volume that can be measured in kW.

 

[PCTREE]

So you got about 5 mpg better if you had run a test standard in the same air temps. Diesel's all get worse mileage the colder the ambient air temp is.

They say if you run a vehicle in 35f air versus 90f air there is a 10% reduction in MPG due to drag due to denser air

 

[Tucker943]

Let's dumb it down a bit guys. You're losing me.

 

[SkwerI]

Chris, are you saying we need to type slower?

H o w ' s

t h i s ?

 

[Tucker943]

More better.

 

[SoonerFan]

When they start using trigonometry and calculus, I'm not reading this thread anymore.

 

[Reddog]

So what is available for narrower and harder compound tires?

They say if you run a vehicle in 35f air versus 90f air there is a 10% reduction in MPG due to drag due to denser air

I have read that also, but that doesn't explain the increase in fuel consumption in stationary diesel engines.
I also have not seen the same increased use in gasoline engines from cold temps.

 

[PCTREE]

I just put some narrower LRR tires on the Mrs. Passat diesel along with some pimpin wheel covers, her car has to be presentable.

My car I want catamaran fairing around the wheels....

 

[PCTREE]

Reddog, been thinking about your response about diesels not running as well in the cold. OK so assuming a correctly operating thermostat the engine temp should be equal. The air supply may be cooler which is good right (reason for intercooler) not sure if atomization off fuel would be effected. However it is well documented that winter fuel is thinned down so has less energy content than summer fuel to prevent gelling. This I think is what you are noticing not in fact a result of the motor being less efficient at colder ambient temps just less energy in fuel.....

 

[Reddog]

Bet it does have a lot to do with winterized fuel. I had forgotten how much lower the BTU's are between #1 and #2 fuel.

 

[brendonv]

Saw these on youtube, Paul. Styling.

 

[MasterBlaster]

This fellow's not worried about being streamlined.

 

[Al Smith]

Oh my old Red Green is working on this on the sly .Duct tape !

 

[Paul B]

Saw these on youtube, Paul. Styling.

Formula 1 used them for a couple years, a few years ago.

 

[Underwor]

I am running about 46 average on my daily 160 mile round trip commute in the 08 Prius, with 110K on it so far. My best was 56 one way with a very good tail wind, driving about 68mph average.

I am not sure it is more aerodynamic, but last week a pair of ducks took off in front of me. One went right and took the mirror off completely, the other hit the driver's side and slammed the mirror back, breaking the glass in it. Must have been the ND Mallard Precision Flying Team.

 

[PCTREE]

leave that mirror off completely and mount one inside the car so you can see theta side . Worked great for me

 

[MasterBlaster]

Gotta link to one of those mirrors?

Ever heard of having your doors shaved?

 

[rskybiz]

And mine admires you for your green thinking!