Scion xA aero mods

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by NeilBlanchard

Hi Phil,

The additional thing that this could accomplish is to get the side windows (close to) flush. I'll try some tuft tests when I can -- I'm guessing the rear windows would be better than the front, if the air flow has reattached after the (probable) separation just behind the A pillars?

The fronts might be helped by some flush "rain guards", I'll bet -- this will draw air out of the car, and mybe with less noise than when you just crack the windows?

Yeah Neil,NASCAR puts 'em behind the B-pillars.They get brake-cooling and maybe fuel cell ventilation( dual inlets).Once in,you can duct the air anywhere you like.Jungle helicopter pilots have a bacalava(sp?) they wear under their brain bucket which circulates chilled water to scalp and neck,where blood supply runs close to the surface.If you were to site your outlet near the headrest,you might get max benefit.

[NeilBlanchard]

Hiya,

I've added (partial) front wheel skirts -- here's the pictures!





And here's a view of the all the current aero mods:

[Deezler]

Wow, getting pretty sleek there. That passenger side mirror just screams DRAG to me.

Do the front skirts rub the tires at all under hard cornering?

[NeilBlanchard]

Hi,

I've got one of the $8 side mirrors that Sean posted about on the way...

The tires only have hit once, when I drove into a driveway with a dramatic slope, with three people in the car. I can't tell where it hit by looking -- Coroplast is pretty tough!

[NeilBlanchard]

Okay, here's the new smaller side mirror installed:




I think my ultimate goal will be to install video cameras on both sides, with this little mirror on the driver's side to meet the letter of the law. And both LCD screens mounted on the dash just above the steering wheel --- having the gauges in the center of the dash will be a big help for this! This way I will not be blocking any of the air bags in the car, either...

I should have added that this mirror really needs to be oriented horizontally, because it is convex and when it is vertical, things seem to be moving very quickly, and you can hardly use it.

[NeilBlanchard]

Hiya,

I just clicked the "buy" button on two each of these:

REAR VIEW CAMERA NIGHT VISION WATERPROOF NEW FOR CARS

6 inch standalone headrest car lcd tft monitor screen

The cost is ~$156 shipped; pretty reasonable really!

The small mirror may get moved to the driver's side (to meet the the letter of the law)...so far I have liked how things have worked with it on the passenger side.

[Deezler]

Huh. So the small mirror's convex shape really makes it hard to use when mounted vertically? I think I will still get one of these and mount it that way, but only rely on it for parallel parking.

Interested to see the camera setup. $156 might seem reasonable, but will still be difficult to recoup in fuel savings... Furthermore you may never save the energy via fuel economy improvement that was required to design, manufacture, and ship those cameras and monitors to your door. This is one of those instances where I think us ecomodders get a little carried away with personal MPG stats and less with overall environmental sustainability. I would be happy to be wrong about this, however.

[basslover911]

I took the whole passenger mirror out 2 days ago and will be doing the drivers side today.

I don't get it anyway, I can see WAY better with the 3" convex mirrors I got off ebay for $5 both than with the stock. I made a base plate to cover the original mirror cover and it looks like OEM. (I will post pics later).

Anyway, I saw a 2mpg rise since deleting the passenger and will most likely add 2.5 more with the drivers. Also, it rained a bit the day I took it off and the passenger window was without any water unlike the drivers window which had water drops everywhere just sitting still (and this is at highway speeds). BIG effect for little or no money and at least here in Texas still completely legal.

[Tango Charlie]

Very nice, Neil. Thanks for the 'horizontal, not vertical' tip.
I somewhat agree that there comes a point where a mod isn't financially viable if you over-analyze it. But I think you could recoup 156 bucks. Maybe not on its own, but in concert with all the other mods you got going on...
For me, it's somewhat of a hobby. Kinda like the guy who goes deer hunting and proclaims, "This way I don't have to buy beef!"

[NeilBlanchard]

Hi,

As far as costs go, I got HUGE returns on a few rolls of tape (say $25-30 worth?) and a $20 sheet of Coroplast. I spent well over $50 on the AirTabs, which was a total waste. I spent ~$120 on the smooth wheel covers. And I can't forget the ScanGauge II at $150 + an extra cable (which I have not used yet). The total is ~$526-ish.

Lately, I have been getting over 100 "extra" miles per tank, which is (at least) 25% more than I used to. So, that is ~$6 savings per tank. I just put in the 200th tank (I'm getting near the end of my 201st!) -- I've owned the car for a little over 4 years, so I save(d) my total cost in ~90 tankfuls.

I also like to think that I'm doing my part to make things better/less bad, in terms of the environment. In those 200 tankfuls (50 per year) -- how many million+ year old plants and animals are there?