I've done something unspeakable to my car!





I'm about to head on the highway for 2 hours....I really won't be able to do much in the way of testing unfortunately And likely, when my family sees it... there's probably going to be a few instances of yelling followed by it being removed.... But... itt'l be back.

Afterwards, It needs a polish to get rid of tape residue


I think I'm going to add two more panels on the bottom sides -- to finish off the rear tail.

Oh, and you can see the brakes and you can see out the back It fits tightly as I cut the second piece to slide in and lock on it

Comments?

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Time is the best teacher. Unfortunately it kills all its students.


Bike Miles (Begin Aug. 20 - '07): ~433.2 miles

11/12

That is some serious testing!!!!

Dont forget the vortex generators!!!

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B W

Just tell them you've cut your coefficient of drag by 30-50 counts. They'll understand. Looks pretty aero btw.

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You should see it now

I've got a little more to do... I just can't stop But I'm doing a little bit on to the hood and I'm going to make a better diffuser (probably won't make much of a difference considering the undercarriage is exposed).

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Time is the best teacher. Unfortunately it kills all its students.


Bike Miles (Begin Aug. 20 - '07): ~433.2 miles

11/12

Good stuff.

Good luck with it.

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Bad news nobody...

I gotta go top off my tank to check.. because the needle didn't move much... but there's some serious problems... I got 18mpg according to the SG... 18! Mind you... I was going very fast due to an error -- I was told the my sister's graduation was later than it really was... doh! So my driving wasn't very efficient.

I hit the washer fluid... and my rear windscreen got wet... So obviously I'm getting a nasty swirl... Plus it is nowhere near rigid enough. Hell, a semi passed me and sucked off a panel (not pictured here). I'll fuel up later and see if the SG is off (doubt it though). Modifications to come.

Here's the good news... In the city.. I got 50mpg over a 20 mile drive.... So perhaps there's a velocity that magnifies the swirl. I also noticed it didn't flap around as much at city speeds.

I'm either going to reconfigure to take it all down for the trip home

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Time is the best teacher. Unfortunately it kills all its students.


Bike Miles (Begin Aug. 20 - '07): ~433.2 miles

11/12

It looks like you have station wagon envy .

I suspect that cars like my Saturn withe a generous radius between the rear quarter panel and the trunk lid and a nice radius on the sides leading into the back window don't suffer as much drag as some suppose.

Then again if I got the kind of mileage Basjoos gets people would listen to my suspicions .

One of the draggiest cars I think I owned was a 1972 Javelin with a little spoiler just in front of the rear window and sharp corners at the sides of the rear window.

http://www.freewebs.com/dougrotu/Par...%20(Small).jpg

I googled this picture. This shows how to make lots of drag. I managed 24 mpg running the 304 on four cylinders.

usedgeo.

trebuchet03 -

You're a better man than me! Keep up the good work!

CarloSW2

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Old School SW2 EPA ... New School Civic EPA :

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I also made some temporary aero mods before my latest trip, but it didn't make too much of a difference (maybe it did though since I've never driven with five people and film gear filling the car all the way). I also lost them in the rain yesterday, but I think that they held up okay before that. I had them in lower drag areas.

Didn't take any pics though.

Well.... I think something is wrong with my SG.... It told me 18.1mpg - but when I refueled... I got 35.5 (see gaslog).

I'm back home now.. and need to fill up again... But the SG said 13.x mpg and it said I used 8.8gallons of fuel.... Well, my gas gauge isn't even at 3/4 and my fuel tank is a little less than 15 gal (I think). That, and I went MUCH slower on the way home (constant throttle the whole way). Oh -- and I modified it, I'll have pictures later

From my short time in city... I'm getting really low readings too when the kammback wouldn't be doing anything anyway.... Something goofy is going on, and I'm not quite sure what it is :/

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Time is the best teacher. Unfortunately it kills all its students.


Bike Miles (Begin Aug. 20 - '07): ~433.2 miles

11/12

Paul, I think rain > cardboard. What about that clear vinyl that I use for making screen protectors? Just make some sort of a frame for it. It'll solve a few problems with the current setup. 1) Much closer to the teardrop shape 2) allows for decent visibility 3) won't melt when wet.

The vinyl is less than $2 per running yard.

If you don't want tape residue, you can rub some gulf wax on the area you're attaching the tape to before you install it. It should stick to the wax. Works for bumper stickers.

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I see no reason why fuel economy and power cannot coexist.

Ya... It did rain today And lost some of it's shape


I'm going to be doing the vinyl thing... But I want to find a shape first. And I decided to do this impulsively... I put my tape gun on top of a bunch of virgin cardboard - and said, "ya, taping these to my car... Ya, that's a good idea"

Fastening is still an issue - unfortunately... But I'm running out of time, so that's a nice little incentive to develop something... And I think I have -- I just need to test first to make sure it's viable

__________________
Time is the best teacher. Unfortunately it kills all its students.


Bike Miles (Begin Aug. 20 - '07): ~433.2 miles

11/12

Might want to check your setup setting on the SG. Sometimes they default back to te original settings for no apparent reason.

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Top ten prediction

FE for the Brain

Yeah... I actually just did reset to default and then reset my engine size to what it should be... And the numbers went right up to what seems reasonable considering what the fill ups have said.... Kinda goofy, wish I thought of doing that earlier Maybe some crap data got stuck in there and it had to be reset out Seems to be all better now

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Time is the best teacher. Unfortunately it kills all its students.


Bike Miles (Begin Aug. 20 - '07): ~433.2 miles

11/12

'Taurii' haha.

Paul, I'll see what I can come up with as far as fastening this thing to your car.

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I see no reason why fuel economy and power cannot coexist.

"Ron DeLong suggested that it is a low voltage but I think it is something more than that. Mine gets messed up after I shut the engine down and before it goes off. If I hit the lower right button and maybe the one just above it accidently it will sometimes go bonkers. I have gotten very careful about how I hit buttons after I have shut the engine off.

It seems like it might be right when it is shutting off and I hit a button to keep it alive that it will go bonkers.

usedgeo.

I'm really pissed at the moment... That's happened to me once before and I couldn't figure out why/how... and it happened again just now... Except... It's totally fubar. The top L and R buttons don't work -- only the bottom of the screen works..... Resetting didn't help... grrr... I really hope I can send it back for a new one because I'll be buying another one for my father as a father's day gift (he's really interested in this thing).... It's almost like some of the programming got corrupted because it doesn't auto power off either :/

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Time is the best teacher. Unfortunately it kills all its students.


Bike Miles (Begin Aug. 20 - '07): ~433.2 miles

11/12

Joining late...

Love the impromptu cardboard & tape session. Been there

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FF
ForkenSwift cheap electric car conversion- Geo Metro fuel economy mpg modifications

make sure to pay some attention to the sides too. they should also curve inward as the 2 sides of the car persent a bigger surface than the roof. a lot of cars with a low Cd usually have rear sidewindows that curce inward. might be the reason why wagon types have a worse Cd than their hatchback and sedan ounterparts.
the air should be guided inward as soon as possible.

like this for example: volvo 3cc

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^^ It's hard to tell from that picture... but for th most part it does a little bit... Especially more after I took that picture -- but nowhere near to that extent

__________________
Time is the best teacher. Unfortunately it kills all its students.


Bike Miles (Begin Aug. 20 - '07): ~433.2 miles

11/12