Quote:
Originally Posted by donee
There is a discussion on here about having to switch out one's final drive to gain the fuel economy performance lower drag would imply.
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You'll have to excuse the tendency here to talk with the assumed starting point of an otto cycle engine & fixed gear (usually manual) transmission. (I'm happy to see a growing contingent of diesel members, and more than a couple of hybrid owners also considering DIY options.)
But your point about diesels not suffering from the part throttle, light load losses to the same extent as regular fixed gear otto engines makes Big Dave's question that much more relevant. Ernie took a New Beetle from its horrid starting Cd to something closer to "average"; what would be even more interesting would be seeing someone start with an "average" Golf TDI, for example, and make it much better than average.
The fact that the Prius, with its smart transmission, can avoid the BSFC problem fixed gear otto cycle engines encounter from lessening aero loads makes the prospect of aeromodding a Prius that much more interesting.