Aerocivic - how to drop your Cd from 0.31 to 0.17

[Darxus]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

But do you mean to add a "boat tail" rather than "spoiler"?

Yes. Same thing, other end.

[Wired_Chuck]

Hey basjoos -

I'm a reporter at Wired News, and I'd love to talk you more about the car. I've already blogged about it and sent you a PM with my contact info. I hope to talk with you soon.

[AndrewJ]

frickin' awesome.

guess this whole conservation thing might really catch on after all.

[XFi]

Nice!

[rifraf]

basjoos, I have two questions about your design,

1:Fairing behind muffler - Any worries of Carbon Monoxide getting inside the cabin, or a fire started from the heat off the muffler?

2: Hand Accelorator - I'm new to the group, so I don't know if it helps or is it just a personal preference?

[MetroMPG]

Hi rifraf -

1) I'll let basjoos comment on the exhaust routing.

2) The lever for the hand throttle is to provide very fine throttle control when cruising. It's a mod that enables a more efficient driving technique.

When you get fuel consumption instrumentation in your car, one of the very first things you notice is the relatively BIG jumps in fuel consumption from incremental changes to the accelerator position. Changes that are literally imperceptible to the butt-o-meter will show up on an instant fuel consumption display.

The hand control permits much finer adjustment of the throttle once up to cruising speed. It may also be more comfortable to use than feathering the throttle by foot for long periods.

[rifraf]

Ahh thanks for the tidbit Metro! I take it though that there are electronic Accelerators out on the market? Something like a steering wheel paddle attached electronically to the throttle? Also it seems that basjoos' homebrew throttle could be a bit dangerous if not setup/maintained properly

[martae]

Great job Basjoos, but why didn't you start with a civic VX instead of a CX ? It was the high mileage model. Feather light aluminum wheels. Wider ratio transmission with a higher final drive ratio (2000 rpm at 60 mph). Variable valve timing with a twist. In this engine only one intake valve opens below 2500 rpm. Since there is only one intake valve open more of the pressure drop between the atmosphere and the cylinder is across the valve rather than the throttle plate. This gives a more turbulent fuel air mixture which allows a leaner fuel/air charge, greater torque at low engine speed, and no predetonation . The use of a very sensitive oxygen sensor (unique to the VX) allows more precise control of the FA mixture making a very low idle possible. On a warm day mine idles at about 500 rpm. The practical effect of these engine tweaks is high torque at low RPM sort of like a diesel. As I'm sure you guys know, the great weakness of the Otto cycle (the spark igniton gasoline engine is an Otto cycle engine) are the large pumping losses at part load caused by sucking the FA charge past the throttle plate. The ability of this engine to deliver good torque at low RPM (and thus lower pumping losses) is the secret to the high fuel economy this car delivers. The CX and the VX share the same body, but the CX is listed at EPA 42/46 and the VX at 47/56. The VX also offers higher power since the engine has the same displacement, but four valves per cylinder (92 vs 70). I bought mine new in 1992, have put 208 thousand miles on it and still average 45 mpg to work and around town. When the car was new 52 or 53 mpg was not unusual on a long road trip. The fact Honda could do this with the technology of 15 years ago shows what a bunch of liars the auto companies are when they squeal about a 35 mpg average fuel economy rule.

[smokeonit]

as to the car model, a diesel, for example a VW golf TDI, will raise your mpg by 20-40%... hopefully the clean TDI's make it to the US ASAP...!

and i think smoother material surfaces should also help improve drag...

[basjoos]

Originally Posted by rifraf

basjoos, I have two questions about your design,

1:Fairing behind muffler - Any worries of Carbon Monoxide getting inside the cabin, or a fire started from the heat off the muffler?

2: Hand Accelorator - I'm new to the group, so I don't know if it helps or is it just a personal preference?

The exhaust exits straight through a hole on the back side of the fairing, so there is no trapping of exhaust gasses inside the fairing. Also the aluminum sheet making up the fairing is mounted on the underside of the aluminum sheet making the underside of the boattail, so there is no air connection between the air space inside the fairing and the air space inside the boattail. There is a 1" air gap between the back of the muffler and the front of the fairing to allow for movements of the exhaust system, which allow for cooling and also aluminum isn't known for its great flammability.

MetroMPG answered much of my reasoning for the hand accelerator (fine tuning of the throttle position, particularly useful for good FE at the lower speeds when your throttle position is just running just slightly above idle). Also, unlike normal cruise controllers, the hand throttle is a DWL (driving with load) cruise controller, not a constant speed cruise controller.

The hand accelerator is set up the same as the one on my John Deere tractor (the hand control sets a lower throttle position that can be overidden by pressing on the foot accelerator. The hand throttle only goes from zero to slightly above half throttle and I have trained my reflexes to automatically pull back on the hand throttle whenever I push down the clutch pedal. On the rare occasions when I do forget to pull back on the hand throttle when I push down the clutch, the engine just revs up and reminds me I need to pull back on the hand throttle.