Lower & Upper Grille Block Ideas (Toyota Echo)

[alohaspirit]

nice!

what did you have in mind for the mechanism?

[CigaR007]

Originally Posted by alohaspirit

nice!

what did you have in mind for the mechanism?

It will be controlled by two door-lock actuators. They will act as a pulling horizontal actuation on each side of the floor register. Only one actuator will be active at a time and pull a bicycle brake cable in order to OPEN or CLOSE the grille opening.

There will also be a small indication panel beside my scangauge. It will display when the active grille is either open or closed and warn me when the radiator fan is on.

[CigaR007]

I did some preliminary testing yesterday and the floor register opening is not effective. Coolant kept creeping up to 204F until the fan turns on.

On the way back home, I removed it, while keeping the foam casing, and the coolant temperature was rock solid at 188F. That can only be explained by a more stable air flow.

I have a feeling that the opening angle of the floor register is too sharp and the incoming air becomes too turbulent, thus affecting its cooling capability.

I am now considering just keeping the foam casing in place (better aero, efficient cooling) for the winter.

I guess I have some more thinking and tinkering to do.

[COcyclist]

Originally Posted by CigaR007

I did some preliminary testing yesterday and the floor register opening is not effective. Coolant kept creeping up to 204F until the fan turns on.

On the way back home, I removed it, while keeping the foam casing, and the coolant temperature was rock solid at 188F. That can only be explained by a more stable air flow.

I have a feeling that the opening angle of the floor register is too sharp and the incoming air becomes too turbulent, thus affecting its cooling capability.

Ford used angled grill bars on the original Fiesta. Their testing showed that at higher speeds the boundary layer would thicken between the bars and the air would skip right over for improved aerodynamics. I hope you find a workable solution. Something that would only open after the engine is up to temperature would be very beneficial in cold weather.

[CigaR007]

Originally Posted by COcyclist

Ford used angled grill bars on the original Fiesta. Their testing showed that at higher speeds the boundary layer would thicken between the bars and the air would skip right over for improved aerodynamics.

That probably explains why there seems to be no "cool" air reaching the radiator.

Originally Posted by COcyclist

I hope you find a workable solution. Something that would only open after the engine is up to temperature would be very beneficial in cold weather.

My ongoing journey of building grille blocks and adapting them has taught me that things almost never go according to plan. haha

I will overcome this, it's only a matter of time.

[CigaR007]

Decided to make this thread about all the mods on my Echo. (For efficiency purposes )

I don't know why I have not done this sooner, but here are my newly assembled aerodynamic wheel covers !

Same old material; pizza trays over stock hubcaps. The pizza tray is held in place over the hubcap using aluminum pop rivets.

I might paint the outer rim black in the future to "blend in" with the tires and the center will probably be the same bronze colour as my summer wheels.

Here are the pics !





Used some pop rivets to make sure all the holes are aligned while drilling.

[gliderman]

And how many more MPG's are you getting with that setup?

[CigaR007]

Originally Posted by gliderman

And how many more MPG's are you getting with that setup?

You mean the grille blocks and the wheel covers combined ? If so, from some preliminary numbers, I would say around 2 MPG.

[HyperMileQC]

I really like the wheel covers! You also did a really good job with openable grille idea. This is giving me ideas... Echo-Francis and I are also thinking about your radiator wind tunnel idea, we would like to see if this improves FE.

Denis

[CigaR007]

Speaking of the wheel covers, there is already some light surface rust appearing ! I knew the pizza pans were made of steel, but I did not think it would be that soon. I am considering powder coating them.