Rear Wheel Skirt using water heater drain pan

[cfg83]

alohaspirit -

Originally Posted by alohaspirit

I think this is a great mod cfg83

hope to see updates

(maybe I should splurge and get 2 pans)

Thanks, I literally took maybe a year of looking around for what was in my head. I mostly looked in plant nurseries at the plastic "dura cotta" saucers, but they only got as big as maybe 20" diameter. Then one day I gave the plumbing section a try in Home Depot, and there they were, looking at me, as if to say, "where have you been all this time"?

I also think that they can be a stepping stone for a bolder aero mod :

rear wheel skirts...

Originally Posted by cfg83

malibuguy -

...

I have been thinking that my mod is probably better as "infrastructure". If you look at the picture above, you could cut out the center and use the surrounding "frame" as a base to attach varying skirt designs :


(the dots would be fastener locations)

The cool part is that the skirts could be attached with "quick release" connectors like dzus fasteners. You would have full access to the tire and you could more easily try different wheel skirt designs.

https://www.pegasusautoracing.com/pr....asp?RecID=758


...

I think that doing this would also negate the problem I cited in post #13 above, because cutting out the middle of the drain pan would make it more flexible to fitting in "close-but-no-cigar" wheel-wells.

Cutting out the middle is based on jthistle's idea of using a wheel flare as a "base" for a wheel skirt :

Fender flares to make front wheel skirt

However, I think the drain pan is a better "base" for mounting wheel skirts because you don't have to deal with the "curve" of the fender flare (hard to describe). You just have to mount the cover on a uniform "flat" surface. If I was more bold, I would make a cover for mine that looks something like this outline :



CarloSW2

.

[cfg83]

Hello -

On my home to work route I got 61.8 MPG today. That is 0.2 MPG below my all-time record. What is interesting to me is that I had been driving without my rear wheel skirts for the last two weeks (removed for car wash and wheel rotation). :

1999 Saturn SW2 Trip Log : home to work ; 2009/03/25

ROUTE : 10 West -> 710 South -> 105 West -> 405 South -> Exit Freeway => Roughly 27+ miles
----
NET ELEVATION CHANGE : ~210 feet drop
----
SCANGAUGE "CURRENT" READINGS :
61.8 MPG,
0.4 Gallons,
206 Water Temp Max,
27.7 Miles,
2079 RPM Max,
0.5 Hours,
59 MPH Max,
47 MPH AVG
----
IAT READING : Hot Air Intake + dynamic grill block led to Input Air Temp readings of around 140+ degrees F.
----
WEATHER(.com) :
72.5 degrees F,
Sunny to Fair,
18.5% Humidity,
27 degrees F Dew Point,
30.045 in. Pressure,
----
TIME : ~11:16 AM to ~11:46 AM (PST), ~30 minutes
----
RECENT CAR CHANGES : I had just restored my rear wheel skirts. They were off for a week or two because I had my wheels rotated and a car wash. I went to an increased oil filter size on my last oil change. I also have a "dynamic grill block" mod that I haven't published yet.
----
HYPOTHESIS : "Good" Goldilox traffic (not too pushy). Bone dry weather. If I had a snail to follow, I think I would have hit my record.

I think that without the skirts, at my *minimum* assumption of a 1.36% gain, I would have lost 0.84 MPG, which would have knocked me just below 61 MPG.

There are a few other small mods I need to publish, but I think this is pretty neat.

CarloSW2

[alohaspirit]

nice update

I would love to get 61.8mpg

sheesh, Id love to even get half that (30.9)

[cfg83]

alohaspirit -

Originally Posted by alohaspirit

nice update

I would love to get 61.8mpg

sheesh, Id love to even get half that (30.9)

Thanks, this is my "milk run", where all my best MPG comes from. I drive about 7 miles on city streets before I reach the freeway, so the engine is nice and toasty warm. These recent mods *might* have also helped, but it's way too early to say :

Larger than OEM Oil Filter ...
Spring mounted Grill Block

CarloSW2