AM's '96 Ford Aspire mod thread

[aerohead]

AERO,I found a road test for the Aspire in the May,1994 CAR and DRIVER,p.157
*frontal area 21.1 sq ft
*curb weight 2131 lb
*63 Bhp
*top speed 93 mph
*22.6 mph/1,000 rpm ( 5th gear )
*observed fuel economy 27 mpg *
*C&D road warriors drive very 'spiritedly' and I suspect that the 27 mpg figure is VERY conservative.
PS what ever you do at the back,stay away from 28-degrees.At that angle,the separation point moves around from a wagon-back wake,to a fast-back wake.The buffeting is horrendous!

[AeroModder]

Thanks for the info! I used to have a stack of old Automobile magazines, but they ended up getting recycled during a move. The 93 Bhp figure must be at the flywheel. I've seen it rated for 64 elsewhere.

Hopefully I'll be picking up a Scangauge soon. Payday is around the corner!

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by AeroModder

Thanks for the info! I used to have a stack of old Automobile magazines, but they ended up getting recycled during a move. The 93 Bhp figure must be at the flywheel. I've seen it rated for 64 elsewhere.

Hopefully I'll be picking up a Scangauge soon. Payday is around the corner!

Aero,so sorry! I think my Hippocampus is on the way out! Good that your brain is still 20-20!
I corrected the engine horsepower to 63 Bhp instead of 93.
And yes,it is measured at the flywheel.

[AeroModder]

Found an Aspire forum where a member took some inspiration from Ecomodder members (FastPlastic, Daox, and someone with a black T100 regular cab) and made himself an air dam.

Ford Aspire Com - The Internet's #1 Ford Aspire and Kia Avella Resource! -> Coroplast front bumper project

Here's a pic of the guy's quick mock-up for reference:


I'll be doing the same kind of air dam, but I'll probably close the upper grille and cut some holes in to let air into the lower grille. I'll also put in something to force the incoming air through the radiator like I did on the Tempo. I've noticed the Aspire's temp gauge likes to hang around the middle.

[Christopher Jordan]

Originally Posted by aerohead

AERO,I found a road test for the Aspire in the May,1994 CAR and DRIVER,p.157
*frontal area 21.1 sq ft
*curb weight 2131 lb
*63 Bhp
*top speed 93 mph
*22.6 mph/1,000 rpm ( 5th gear )
*observed fuel economy 27 mpg *)

Thanks- I have a '94 Aspire (had it about 3 years). Economy is off for mine- it got 37 mpg, removed the back seat and drove like I had eggs under my feet and it gets 40- if lucky.

I could do much more, but it has great air conditioning and has an automatic transmission. I do not even have to hypermile the car!

[Christopher Jordan]

(oops- '95) I saw a real nice one and talked to the owner- very angry about getting parts for his. Needs some serious ecomodding I guess. 2 door/hatch like mine but many more miles (mine has 83,000).

[Sularus]

Christopher Jordan- the main reason yours gets only 37 is because it is an automatic. The autos were only rated at like 37. My wife used to have one and that is all we got as well. Good luck and keep trying to get it better.

J

[j12piprius]

Originally Posted by AeroModder

I took it out on the highway for the first time this morning. 5th gear runs the engine at 2400 RPM at 55 MPH. Not too bad, but taller tires might help some.

When you get taller tires, does the odometer or something else have to be adjusted for the mileage to be accurate, because you're traveling more distance with each revolution of the wheels?

[vskid3]

Unless you already have an aftermarket tachometer or can get one for cheap, I would put the money toward a Scangauge/Ultragauge. My car didn't come with a tach and it didn't affect my driving (I swapped a different cluster into it that had a tach, but I never really look at it). In my opinion, the throttle percentage and instant mileage feedback provided by an OBD-II gauge will help you much more than a tach. You can even display a tach on them if you want.

[AeroModder]

I've got the aftermarket tach installed, and I do plan on getting a SG2 for it soon. It was a $30 Sunpro tach, same one I installed in my Tempo. It only took an hour to install (mostly because it was so darn cold and windy out), and it's come in very handy, especially since it's my first time driving a stick. The engine is so quiet it was hard to tell if I stalled it or not. Besides, the nice 2 5/8" dial is much easier to read than a small LCD screen!

I found out that my current tire size (155/80/13) is 3% taller than stock (165/70/13). Adjusting for this, it's actually about 2300 RPM at 55.

With the taller tires, you pretty much have to add in the 3% difference yourself, since the odo/speedo doesn't register a difference in your tire's distance per revolution.