Aero mods

[Dirk37]

Now that I'm in college and commuting 50 miles a day, I thought I'd try some aero mods to improve fuel economy.

These are some temporary test pieces I made out of cardboard, corrugated plastic board, and duct tape. The front has the grill blocked off completely except for the upper slot under the bumper, then the back wheels have side skirts over them. The front cardboard blockoff also extends past the bottom of the car to direct airflow to the side of the car.

And yes, I know these look absolutely ********, you should see some of the looks I get from people

I've had these on for a few days now and they made a noticeable difference in the distance I was able to coast, also the car needs less throttle to accelerate on the freeway. I haven't gone through a full tank with these on but I'll update this thread when I do.

If there is a decent mileage increase, I'm planning to make new removable pieces out of fiberglass and paint them to match the car. That way I can get decent commuting mileage while not having to look like an eco-freak all the time

 

[SHOdded]

Another interesting idea! Will be a unique roller for sure

 

[Toolman]

Try removing your mirrors as well. If you have some spare wheels, get some skinny low rolling resistance tires and pump em up a few extra psi. I am convinced a well running SHO can achieve 35mpg at highway speeds with the proper attention.

 

[Toolman]

your front end is sitting pretty high as well, just lowering it a bit would help reduce the amount of air getting under the car.

 

[Dirk37]

Mirrors are going away as soon as I get my wink mirror. I'm actually pretty excited because the in my opinion the mirrors look out of place.

I've got my tires pumped up to their max pressure and that made a big difference. I think I'm going to get some donuts from the junk yard and see what those can do in terms of fuel economy.

As for the air under the car, I'm working on building a complete cover for the bottom since going any lower would prevent me from getting into my driveway. My goal is to get 400 miles out of a tank or 28 mpg (gas light comes on after about 14.1 gallons) which I think should be attainable.

 

[SHOdded]

I used to get 28-30 mpg highway on my 95 atx with no mods. So I'd agree with T's assessment of 30+ with an MTX.

 

[SHO Continental]

At most you can take the passenger mirror off (RCW 46.37.400). I'd say get some fox Mustang mirrors. They are tiny with great aero.

 

[Off Road SHO]

You can't seal off the whole bottom of the car, at least not underneath the engine compartment. You won't get any airflow through the radiator if you do. The geatest aid to getting the best mileage is a vacuum gauge. The higher the vacuum the higher the mileage.

Tom

 

[SHOVNST]

I am convinced a well running SHO can achieve 35mpg at highway speeds with the proper attention.

Call me crazy but I believe 40mpg is attainable without seriously major modifications. My all time bests are 33mpg moving an average of 70mph. I was 'cruising' for the most part but did not avoid putting the pedal down if needed. The craziest thing is that was with about 1,000 pounds of my belongings in the car. I was moving cross country.....

 

[SHOdded]

40 mpg would be awesome!

 

[Sholovenothate]

not sure if you guys are making fun of him or serious

 

[sperold]

About 5-years ago, there were many threads on this forum concerning high mpg efforts.

Hyper-mile was one term that comes to mind, but the most interesting thing was an instantaneous mpg gauge for OBD I cars (I guess OBD II has it as an integral part).
It was a kit thing that you had to finish yourself, and find a spot on the dash to display it.

Even if it did not give you the exact correct mpg, it would at least let you know when you are doing gas saving things well.

I remember being surprised by the things that give you great mileage. The conventional wisdom of keeping the revs low and lugging around in the highest gear possible turned out to be wrong.

 

[SHOdded]

I saw a SuperMID device on a web search, is it the same one you are referring to, sperold?

I believe GM has the instantaneous MPG feature on their late model vehicles, saw it on the Terrain last year.

 

[sperold]

That does not ring a bell.
It had something like gizmo in the name, and the kit was not a lot of money if I remember correctly, like maybe $40.00 or so.
I will search for it when I have a moment to myself, I remember "the king of pop" Michael Jackson fan (2 bad shos maybe) was a big contributor, and followed the thread as well.

 

[ItsAnAdventure]

Several years ago we (Kris and I) attended the All Ford show in Carlisle, PA. We also had Tom Ochal with us on the trip out from Chicago onward. With the three of us and a freaking carload of gear we averaged 32 mpg at an average speed of 73 mph.

 

[Dirk37]

At most you can take the passenger mirror off (RCW 46.37.400). I'd say get some fox Mustang mirrors. They are tiny with great aero.

Believe it or not one of my friends has a note signed by the entire Washington legislature stating that he doesn't need side mirrors with a wink mirror. He kept in the glove box of his completely stripped Mazda Protege (I'm talking no windshield wiper or heater) that he was getting 68 mpg in after the mods he did.

The geatest aid to getting the best mileage is a vacuum gauge. The higher the vacuum the higher the mileage

Already have one of those and have been putting it to use!



For a mileage computer I was trying to find a Tripminder which is a neat little clock replacement Ford put in some Grand Marquis and Thunderbirds. It hooked up to pin 34 of the ecu and could give you mpg, how much gas was remaining in the tank and a bunch of other neat stuff. I scoured every junk yard in the area but couldn't find one so I got this thing on ebay called the UTCOMP, or universal trip computer.

It was around $130 and it can do average mpg, current fuel usage, display temperatures, has custom inputs for stuff like AFR or boost, and is configurable via usb. I haven't installed it yet but it looks pretty easy, it just needs an injector and speed sensor signal and the constants for them.

I remember being surprised by the things that give you great mileage. The conventional wisdom of keeping the revs low and lugging around in the highest gear possible turned out to be wrong.

I've found that driving super conservatively and lugging it and all that crap literally does nothing, usually it just decreases my fuel economy and makes me hate driving. I tried it for an entire tank of mostly freeway driving and got 23 mpg, went back to driving normally and it looks like I'm about to get the same or more. I think part of the reason I'm not getting higher freeway mileage like most of you guys is I have super short tires on 15" rims so I'm at about 3k on the freeway.

 

[jayro]

Just lowering your cruising RPMs many times won't increase your mileage. You have to look at the your power curve and the amount of throttle input at that RPM. If the lower RPM puts you too far outside your power band then you could loos mileage since it will require more throttle/fuel to maintain speed and adjust for slight upgrades/downgrades in the road.

Aero mods can do a lot. You can switch to synthetic fluids and bearing grease to reduce resistance. Finding a way to reduce the weight of the vehicle can help too. Skinny tall tires help (inflated to max tire pressure). Lighter rims/tires. Non-aggressive tread patterns.

Driving style can help too. It is a lot about maintaining momentum. Looking far enough ahead so you don't have to come to a complete stop. Also, with a manual trans it can help to put it in neutral to cost down hills or when you see a red light ahead. Some people will even turn the engine off and coast for a while on the highway when they are able....though this could be a saftey concern since it has an affect on power steering and braking ability.