AM's '96 Ford Aspire mod thread

[Christopher Jordan]

Originally Posted by AeroModder

Chris:
I've been contemplating removing the backseat in mine, but I don't see everything weighing more than 25 lbs, and the use of the backseat is worth that much weight.

Now; see??? Had you done more than contemplate and removed the seat - the transmission might not have gone out!

Nobody listens to me!

Aspires have a bad habit of blowing water pumps. That, 2 light bulbs, and a new battery when I got my Aspire; were my mechanical expenses for about 5 years now.

Sorry about tranny problems. That might be more expensive than the car is worth after 14 years not being made.

[AeroModder]

I actually managed to find a trans for $180 and know a guy that'll help me put it in for $50, so it's actually not too bad in terms of cost. My biggest worry is getting to work reliably. I'm already on thin ice for showing up late by 2 minutes because the line at the gas station was huge and missing a shift because of the broken tranny.

[AeroModder]

Tranny update: Install went well, and the transmission works great. RPMs dropped by 2-300 on the highway, gaining about 4.5 MPH at 2500 RPM.


Finally getting around to installing some smooth wheel covers. Used a 30"x36" sheet of white coroplast from the Home Depot and cut four 14" circles, with zip ties around each of the 8 spokes to secure them. I cut out a hole for valve stem access.





No tests yet, but we'll see how well they work! Planning on putting a pair on the rear as well, and trimming back the rear wheel skirts to make them flush with the body and not have to stick out to avoid rubbing the tire.

[Sven7]

All I can think of is this:


I say insert little Roger Moores with blood running over half the wheel.

[IVTenvy]

I have put 150,000 miles on a 95 2 door and 94 4 door. The 95 died at 200,000 because I was power shifting for the last 60,000 due to clutch cable issues. I replaced it with the 94 and really appreciate the extra space. The only maintenance costs I have encountered between the two were: Primary ignition coil, plugs/wires, premature tire wear-misalignment, speedo cable skipping and light bulbs. Not bad for the cheapest thing available.
I started modding over a week ago. Once I get through a tank I will fill in my log. Can you fill us in with a comprehensive list of mods and their effects on your Aspire?

[AeroModder]

Unfortunately I don't have the effects of every single mod I have on the car, because I haven't done much testing outside of just seeing how they affect daily commutes.

Currently, the aero mod list includes:
-Front air dam and undertray with a 1.5" splitter
-Kammback, sealed at the rear with small pieces of acrylic
-Side "rails" (not full side skirts, but a single strip of coroplast positioned on the inside of the tire running the length of the side)
-Front/rear tire spats
-Rear diffuser, with a 15 degree max slope
-Pressure Recovery Plates to help the diffuser work better
-Deletion: Mud guards
-Deletion: Passenger side mirror
-Driver's side mirror taken from a Geo Metro
-Hard corners added to trailing edges
-Smooth wheel covers

Engine/drivetrain:
-Cold air intake with drop-in K&N filter, custom tubing to pull air in from in front of the radiator
-Oil blend: 2 qts Mobil 1 high mileage full synthetic, 1 qt Royal Purple, 1/2 qt Lucas Oil Treatment
-Festiva transmission swap

Suspension:
-Civic VX wheels
-175/70/13 Hercules Tour 4.0 Plus tires, 45 PSI

Instrumentation:
-Sunpro Tach
-Scangauge II

As for what the mods have done, the biggest benefit from a single mod would have to have been inflating the tires. When I got the car, the tires were underinflated, and it returned a 38 MPG tank. Inflating them to 40 PSI got 43 MPG, along with me getting comfortable driving a stickshift.
The biggest benefit from aero mods would be the front air dam/undertray and the kammback. I found that vortex generators and a spoiler showed nearly the same improvement on highway MPG (38 stock, 42 VGs, 43 Kammback at 65 MPH with a mild crosswind).
Since your Aspire is a '94, a Scangauge won't work for you. That has proven to be an invaluable tool, and will be on any '96 and newer car I own in the future. Seeing the instant economy has really helped me squeeze as many miles as I can on the highway by backing off the throttle position ever so slightly. Ignoring it, I'll get maybe 45 MPG on the highway, but paying attention, I can see 50 on a steady cruise easy.

But I'll be honest, not all of my driving is focused on economy. I do enjoy sporty driving, and will on occasions start up quickly from a stop and stretch out the engine's muscles, so to speak, so that brings down my tank averages somewhat. As long as I know my mods are having a positive effect, I'm happy.

[IVTenvy]

Thanks, AM. My tank average test run (166, the highway James Dean died on) has been a good place to test my Aspire. Breaking wind at 55, I steadily get 42 mpg heading east with one passenger at 3:30 pm. Heading west at 8:30 pm I get 38 every time. Today I cut two loops off of my front springs. My tank average for the east trip is 49! I know it isn't a Bonneville test or anything but I am happy to see the savings. I will make time for skirts and hub caps because I want to push 50.

[Christopher Jordan]

Originally Posted by IVTenvy

I steadily get 42 mpg heading east with one passenger at 3:30 pm. Heading west at 8:30 pm I get 38 every time.

Best my Aspire ever got in almost 5 years was 37 mpg, that fordaspire.com sticker must be holding it back... (auto. trans. and air conditioning do not help)

It went from a throwaway car to a gas jewel when gas was $4.39 here! All I did "aero" was remove the stock front mud gaurds.

[AeroModder]

IV: How long do you go between fillups for your calculations?

Christopher: The main thing holding yours back is that 3 speed auto. See if you can trade it for a 5 speed and you'll see a HUGE difference.

[IVTenvy]

~130 miles averaging 52 mph.