Scion xA aero mods

[NeilBlanchard]

Hi,

The beam axle is a 'V' where the open part faces the back, so I tucked the Coroplast all the way in, and taped the face of the Coroplast to the outside/bottom leg of the 'V'. So, it stays in without any tape, and the tape just secures it in place. I used Gorilla tape, btw.

The two sides are taped up to the towing loops. And the rear is tucked into the bumper fascia, and taped similarly to the front.

In the winter, I am probably going to have to take it off, because snow/ice/slush/frozen gunk will build up on top of the Coroplast, which would weigh down the car, at the very least -- and it might just rip the whole thing off the car...

[Z man]

Originally Posted by NeilBlanchard

Hi,

The beam axle is a 'V' where the open part faces the back, so I tucked the Coroplast all the way in, and taped the face of the Coroplast to the outside/bottom leg of the 'V'. So, it stays in without any tape, and the tape just secures it in place. I used Gorilla tape, btw.

The two sides are taped up to the towing loops. And the rear is tucked into the bumper fascia, and taped similarly to the front.

In the winter, I am probably going to have to take it off, because snow/ice/slush/frozen gunk will build up on top of the Coroplast, which would weigh down the car, at the very least -- and it might just rip the whole thing off the car...

Yeah I don't know if I can do what you did, as you can see, the bottom of the xB is a bit different in places.
Also, I don't want the suspension to hit the Coroplast when I take the jack out.
I'm glad we get quite a bit less snow down here.
I'll try to do something though!

[NeilBlanchard]

Hello,

A zigzag tape update: the strip I put on the A-pillar seems to have an effect! The rubber trim on the face of the front door windows started to pull away, leaving a 1/16" gap behind it. This would never do -- so I have sealed it up again with some more (wide) zigzag tape.

I have also put a strip of wide zigzag tape over the rubber at the top edge of the windshield -- there is a fairly deep groove there, and the initial results seem excellent. I raised my average (after ~1/2 a tank gone) by 1.6mpg in ~95 miles. A pretty big jump if you ask me.

I'm starting to see a real pattern with aero mods: improvements on the front surfaces of the car are about 5X more effective as those done on the trailing sides and rear.

[Z man]

Originally Posted by NeilBlanchard

Hello,

A zigzag tape update: the strip I put on the A-pillar seems to have an effect! The rubber trim on the face of the front door windows started to pull away, leaving a 1/16" gap behind it. This would never do -- so I have sealed it up again with some more (wide) zigzag tape.

I have also put a strip of wide zigzag tape over the rubber at the top edge of the windshield -- there is a fairly deep groove there, and the initial results seem excellent. I raised my average (after ~1/2 a tank gone) by 1.6mpg in ~95 miles. A pretty big jump if you ask me.

I'm starting to see a real pattern with aero mods: improvements on the front surfaces of the car are about 5X more effective as those done on the trailing sides and rear.

I had some electric tape on those parts and I don't know if it helped but theoretically it should. I'll go put some back on there!

[Xringer]

Originally Posted by NeilBlanchard

Hello,

A zigzag tape update: the strip I put on the A-pillar seems to have an effect! The rubber trim on the face of the front door windows started to pull away, leaving a 1/16" gap behind it. This would never do -- so I have sealed it up again with some more (wide) zigzag tape.

I have also put a strip of wide zigzag tape over the rubber at the top edge of the windshield -- there is a fairly deep groove there, and the initial results seem excellent. I raised my average (after ~1/2 a tank gone) by 1.6mpg in ~95 miles. A pretty big jump if you ask me.

I'm starting to see a real pattern with aero mods: improvements on the front surfaces of the car are about 5X more effective as those done on the trailing sides and rear.

Or, maybe you are learning to be come a better Hyper-Miler??

Okay Neil, come clean..
Are you starting to get where you hit 32 MPG, when you borrow a friend's Suburban??

Now, I've got to start looking at all those cracks and seams on the nose of my flying cinder block..

[NeilBlanchard]

Hi Rich,

No, I've been ecodriving on the same commute for 7 months or so, and the most recent increase due to adding the homemade zigzag Gorilla tape at the top of the windshield seems to be helping quite a bit. On this morning's commute, I added a further 0.5mpg to the average for the tank; so in ~140 miles out of ~370 miles, I went from 43.6mpg to 45.6mpg.

The weather has been cooler in general, and there has been some rain, and that's what I attribute the overall drop from my best FE this summer. During this tankful, the weather has been pretty consistent, and the 2mpg increase has happened since I added the zigzag tape at the top of the windshield.

[basslover911]

Hey where did you get the pinking shears??

I asked at home depot and didnt have any... im thinking of just going to an arts and craft stores and get one of those zigzag plastic scissors...?

[i_am_socket]

Pinking shears, being most commonly used for textiles, would be far more likely to be found in craft store than your local Home Despot.

(Home Despot, for all your megalomaniacal needs!)

[Xringer]

Okay Neil Thanks for the reply.

Two questions:

"(wide) zigzag tape".. How did you make it? (dimensions etc).


"I have also put a strip of wide zigzag tape over the rubber at the top edge of the windshield"

I looked at your ZZ pics again and saw everything but the top of the windshield..
Can you please post a pic of that area, with the wide ZZ tape??

I'm going down and dig out those pinking shears right now!

[NeilBlanchard]

Hi,

I bought mine at Michael's a large "craft" store, for $20 -- they are Fiskars. The A.C. Moore location in Framingham was out of stock.

The wide ones at the top of the windshield are ~1" wide strips across the 2" wide Gorilla tape. The normal ones are ~1/4" wide.