Aero suggestions for my car

[atomicradish]

aerohead,

Thank you for the caveats involved in over inflating the tires. I have no plan put an extreme amount of air in the tires I currently have. However, the next set of tires I buy will be purchased with FE in mind. I am not concerned with ride quality or jarring from the road. My 320 mile trip is traveled alone so I do not have to worry about keeping passengers happy. Even though I am driving on the Interstate, I drive 55 tops unless I am coasting off of a hill.

Bad news on the mirror deletes. I had hoped to take them on and off between trips. Unfortunately I have to remove the entire door panel to get to them.

[i_am_socket]

Yeah, my mirrors are similarly set up. Fortunately it's not something I haven't done before while changing speakers. Check on your mirror setup for wiring: mine has an in-door wiring connection presumably to make swapping mirrors easier.

+1 to doing something with those mud flaps. Boat-tail them maybe?

Upper grill block should be pretty easy with such a small area to cover.

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by whitevette

Wrong, wrong, wrong. All totally wrong. Such is the nature of the anecdodal response. I'm speaking from 13+ years of corporate R&D tire cord work.

Sorry ol' chap,you'll have to take that one up with the Society of Automotive Engineers.I'm just the messenger.

[donee]

Hi All,

This tire pressure thing has been an ongoing debate between the AAA and Cleanmpg. Wayne Gerdes pointed out that Police driving instructors recommend setting the pressure at cold max sidewall pressure, as whitevette recommends. He references a police driving training website, Police & Law Enforcement - Officer.com Police News, Forums, Links and More for Police Officers, Law Enforcement, Corrections, Sheriffs and More.

Michelin has an article which has been on some tire store websites, that demonstrates that higher tire pressures are superior for aqua-planing resistance.

And of course the more the side-wall flex, the more its going to heat up and the more its gong disipate rolling resistance. Just take a piece of stiff rubber tubing and flex it 45 degrees 20 times, feel the temp at the flex point, then do it again at 90 degrees, warmer. And one of the conclusions of the Explorer tire blow-out roll overs was that the placard pressure - 28 PSI (Yikes!) was too low for safe operation of the tires.

Most of the hypermilers in Prius' are running 42/40 at least, and some are up around 50 psi. I run 44/42 right now, and am closing in on a 68 mpg tank (at 68.6 right now, 550 miles into the tank). 44 PSI is the sidewall rating of the Michelin Hydroedge tires on my car.

[donee]

Hi All,

That said, pickup trucks are probably different. Pickup truck tires have load ratings for the hauling weight of the vehicle, and that hauling weight is allot more than the unloaded weight. In a car the loaded weight is much less in comparison to the unloaded wieght.

44 PSI in pickup truck tires may crown the patch. Not in a most cars however. Especially a Prius, which has low load rating, in comparison to the cars weight. My 300 pound lighter Saturn SL2 used the same tire load rating.

[taco]

my moms 03 seirra es cab 4x4 , recommends 50 psi front and rear, per the door sticker.

[Big Dave]

I removed my radio antenna, and realized zero additional MPG.

[azraelswrd]

^probably too small to see with instrumentation. An antenna isn't a lot of "stuff" to cut through the air usually unless you've got a Jack head sitting on top. I still removed my antenna to remove that small sliver of drag and because I don't really listen to the radio (and when I do, I can still receive the stations normally)

just 4 things to remember about FE (that I've come to learn):
> driving style
> aerodynamics
> tires
> weight

address something from every area and you might do better FE in the long run. But as with all things, test and experiment first before you go all-in. If its a small impact you might not even notice without a tankful or two. Keep records of what you're doing and how you're doing them both with and without the modifications.

(basic control-vs-variable testing with repetition and minimized external influences)