5th generation civic hatchback - improving aerodynamics

[Intrigued]

Originally Posted by AndrewJ

I'm BAAAAACK!

WooHoo!!!

Originally Posted by AndrewJ

Driving in Missouri sucks. Some combination of the hilly terrain, the 10% ethanol in the gas and the winter temps have really killed my mileage.

Yep and Yep. I'm thinking they may have started the transition back to summer gas, since even though I just replaced my thermostat, my mileage came up for the rest of the tank more than I thought it should. The next full tank will tell...

Originally Posted by AndrewJ

oh, and last month it got really windy and managed to rip the plexiglass window right off the back of my car, so I hastily re-attached a new one and am in the process of figuring out a better way to fasten it.

Ouch. It HAS been extra windy around here in the Show-Me state. I'm thinking even more about some kind of wind energy device myself...

Originally Posted by AndrewJ

And I should seriously be on more now. I have DSL
And I should be getting the kitchen done soon

Keep Momma Happy! You know what happens when Momma ain't happy!!!

...oh, and even sad pictures can be instructional to the rest of us!!!

[AndrewJ]

Driving back home last night and the damn back plexi blew out agiain. I'm afraid it's going to take a much more permanent method of fastening the next time. I'm thinking a box of pop-rivets ought to hold it on pretty well....

[Ferr3t]

Glad to see you back Andrew, it's great to see another from Columbia on here as well!

[Cd]

Originally Posted by AndrewJ

Driving back home last night and the damn back plexi blew out agiain. I'm afraid it's going to take a much more permanent method of fastening the next time. I'm thinking a box of pop-rivets ought to hold it on pretty well....

You say that the Plexi blew out again, and from the way you make it sound, you were driving as it happened ?
It sounds as if there is a low pressure bubble back there acting on the back of the car.

What did you have the Plexi attached with ?
Also, did the Plexi just blow off and land in the road ( or the guy behind you ), or did it come off gradually ?

One last thing ..... do you still have a camera ? We would all love to see more of pictures of the car.

[AndrewJ]

Blew out in this context means "catastrophic failure while driving due to wind"

Kinda startling as you're going down the road...

Fortunately we were only .25 miles from the house at that point and the wind carried the plexi into the median instead of into the car behind us.

Plexi was attached with two hinges at the top edge and a latch at the bottom edge, I'll have to take some pics when I attempt rear windshield surgery tomorrow.

[ecoxantia]

Just wanted to say you're an inspiration! Been thinking about how to do this on my car and you've inspired me to "just do it".

Well done!

[Centurion]

Thank -you been reading along, twice to get all to good stuff! Any news?

[MetroMPG]

Andrew, you've been spotted in the wild.

And momentarily mistaken for basjoos.

Tippmann Forum - AeroCivic in Mid-MO

[AndrewJ]

So, seeing as how my civic has been doing a whole lot of sitting in the driveway lately (it racks up a whole 60 miles per month) I've been thinking about getting rid of it.
Add to that the fact that I'm going to be buying a small truck for my little foray into organic farming, and the ol' girls gotta go.

I've had a lot of fun modding the car, and it was definitely a HUGE asset last summer when I drove around California for my job. However, it's time to let someone else have a shot at the big MPGs.

See here for details.

[gascort]

You don't need a car in Columbia, especially not one that gets good gas mileage - I biked everywhere when I was there!
Sorry to see the car go - hopefully someone picks it up!
I tried selling it on my wife, but she said no...