Scion xA aero mods

[Cd]

I just noticed you have some mini mud guards in back of your front wheels. Would you perhaps think of moving them in front of the wheels ?


I'm a little worried that you are going to screw up your paint job with that tape.
Does it come off easily ?

[NeilBlanchard]

Hello,

Those are stock mud guards and so it would be hard to move them.

I have not noticed any residue on the paint when pulling off the tape. It is "transparent" 3M duct tape, btw.

You mean you filled the rain channels on the sides of the windshield?

Yes, that's exactly what I did -- I didn't fill it all in, but I smoothed it out and "increased the radius". I didn't put the tape into the visible glass; just over the blacked out edge -- and I didn't cover the VIN or the inspection sticker.

[nwbabybronco]

Neil, I like your go-get'em style. Any plans for the wipers or mirrors? There is some intrigue in your idea for the structural storage undertray. I am looking at a tray for my truck but hadn't thought about that.

Originally Posted by pawilkes

I didn't see much improvement on my grill block but that could be for many reasons. One questions I have is this, is it better to block the upper grill or lower grill? I have a Subaru Outback with the lower grill blocked and the upper grill open. I chose to do the lower one cause it was a bigger opening but it may be at the stagnant point anyhow so the blocking the upper grill may be better for smoothing flow over the hood. any thoughts?

On an Outback Sport I didn't get any noticeable mpg difference with the lower grill blocked, but it also didn't hurt the cooling. Haven't tried the upper. I figure any air was going under the car instead of through the grill and under. With an undertray it may make a bigger difference. Try tucking in your mirrors.

[NeilBlanchard]

Hello,

Yes, I'm thinking on how to best deflect air up over the wipers -- and I can put a "scoop" on the air intake for the interior vent intake, so I get better air flow w/o using the fan. See it in the upper left center:



And yes, I would love to try some video cameras and inside LCD screens for the side view mirrors (a la Aptera), or add some fairing to the existing mirrors. A clear plastic "pyramid" on the trailing side (so I can still see through it); and/or a leading face cone, would let me keep the existing mirrors intact. But if video cameras can work in the dark and in low visibility situations (fog, snow), then I think that is the better way to go. I doubt that their electrical use is very significant -- certainly much less than the stereo, and way more than enough to offset the aero gains.

They already make backup cameras -- what company will make side view cameras with some 7-9 inch LCD screens?

And yes, I would love to be able to have a body shop weld in a new floor to the hatch area -- the spare and jack could be put lower down and the volume of the storage would about double AND the aerodynamics of the rear would be greatly improved. I might have to wait until my 100K warranty expires before I attempt anything like this, though.

[nwbabybronco]

Check out http://www.bluedevilproducts.com/Hom...20Frameset.htm for cameras. I'm sure there are others out there, too.

[NeilBlanchard]

Hello,

I guess I'll have to visit that web site when booted to Windows -- 'cuz in Ubuntu, NONE of the links work...

[Z man]

The xB's top grille does not let air pass through luckily,
but by looking at the steepness of the windshield, aero mods like this would be futile!


However, I was wondering how your tape does under all that heat from the engine?
Or could I cover a bit of my lower grill without worrying about it melting or sticking to the plastic grill?

[NeilBlanchard]

Hello & welcome,

The tape doesn't melt -- the heat goes back, so the tape really doesn't get very hot.

BTW, I've taken the tape up onto the hood off, and replaced it with a foam gasket to seal out the air (so I can open my hood again!). I had called my local Toyota dealer about getting a proper rubber gasket (like the Camry and the Prius have), but they don't sell it as a separate item.

I also got some 1/8" "Plexiglass" to make proper covers for the fog lights -- I'm going to mark the oval onto the tape, and then stick the tape on the Plexiglass, and cut it out so it fits flush. I'll probably use tap to hold it on, but at least I'll be able to use the lights.

[NeilBlanchard]

Hello,

I'm contemplating how one would use something to decrease the drag at the back of my xA (or any hatchback\stationwagon)? Ditto for improving the stock mirrors?

Would a row of tabs or fins along the roof and down the sides (at least down to the rear wheel openings) be the way to go? (I probably can be helped a lot by some rear wheel skirts!)

[azraelswrd]

Cool. Been thinking about some mods to my xA and was worried about covering the grille. I'll get a SGII to doublecheck on potential overheating. In California, the summer heat is unforgiveable (100-103 is the norm as of late) here but I like what I'm hearing on the gains.

[whokilledthejams]

Originally Posted by NeilBlanchard

Hello,

I'm contemplating how one would use something to decrease the drag at the back of my xA (or any hatchback\stationwagon)? Ditto for improving the stock mirrors?

Would a row of tabs or fins along the roof and down the sides (at least down to the rear wheel openings) be the way to go? (I probably can be helped a lot by some rear wheel skirts!)

One guy on the scionlife forum had, for a time, a set of small round mirrors on his xB instead of the big stock ones. He made some plexi blanks to cover the holes on the door, and used some little mirrors like this: https://www.mooneyesusa.com/Store/pr...15a1d608275263

I can't recall if he specifically mentioned FE gains, but he did say that the wind noise was cut immensely, and a reduction of frontal area and drag is obvious.

[Xringer]

Hey Neil,
What about closing off some of that lower intake?
Insert some coroplas on each side, leaving the center 1/3 open..?.

I covered up a lot of mine and it still runs about 185 as usual.



I think my air intake is about 1/5 of what it was..

[NeilBlanchard]

Hello,

I am getting consistent anyway: another tank, and ~46.5mpg again. Same thing for the last three tankfuls.

I don't think the A-pillar mod has done anything appreciable. I will pull off that tape and see how things go.

I need to put plexiglass over my fog lights -- in case I need to use them. Oh, I put some 5/16" thick foam "rubber" gasket under the front edge of the hood, so I could open the hood!

[NeilBlanchard]

Hello,

I now have my ScanGauge II -- the highest coolant temp that I have seen is 184F -- typical is 181F. No problem at all with cooling with the upper grill blocked.

[Edit: today when stuck in traffic (sitting still!) I did see 198F -- but the fan kicked on and kept it under control -- the blocked grill has virtually no effect when the car is sitting still anyway. Once I got moving again, it came back down to ~180F.

I averaged 55mpg for my round trip commute, BTW -- even with the stop and go crap! ]

[akcapeco]

Someone could make a pretty penny with a business constructing lightweight aero pieces. I would concentrate on rear skirts for Metro generations 2 and 3.

[Xringer]

Originally Posted by akcapeco

Someone could make a pretty penny with a business constructing lightweight aero pieces. I would concentrate on rear skirts for Metro generations 2 and 3.

And, there are a lot of Honda Gen1 CRVs out there that could use better MPG..

[NeilBlanchard]

Hello,

As you might have noticed (in my signature) my wife is now driving a Scion xD -- and the very first tankful has equaled my 90 day average. The car is ~310 pounds heavier, and has a 1.8 liter engine, a 4-speed automatic, and a slightly worse 0.32 Cd (vs 0.31 or my xA), and the EPA Combined estimate is lower at 29mpg -- and all I did was pump up the tires a little (~37psi vs the 32 recommended) and seal (most) of the hood joint to the top of the grill....

Now at 55mpg, the engine only turns at ~2,050RPM, so that may be most of how it does it. I hope to do similar front end aero mods -- esp covering the pockets where the fog light would go, and the upper grill is only for show -- and this car could be hitting 50mpg real soon.

The factory MPG gauge is a little optimistic, BTW -- it said we did 44mpg, while we actually did ~42mpg. But for the first tankful, I am quite impressed!

[NeilBlanchard]

Hello,

I'm posting a coupla' pictures showing the current mods to my xA. I now have a foam "rubber" gasket under the leading edge of the hood -- so I can now actually open the hood. And I've made flush lens for the fog lights out of 1/8" acrylic glass (aka PlexiGlas or Perspex) -- so I can actually use the lights!

[Xringer]

Should be a bit smoother now.

That tape looks like packing tape (little lines in it).
You might want to try some long lasting clear tape.

FROST KING T96H Clear Plastic Weatherseal Tape, 2" X 100'

This stuff is not thin like packing tape and works at all kinds of temperatures.
It's flexible and has a little stretch to it. Great stuff for outdoor use.
I use it to hold the Ailerons on my RC airplanes and a lot of other stuff.
I get it at hardware stores like Lowes and Homedepot.
You need a sharp tool to cut it, since there is no way you can tear it by hand.

[NeilBlanchard]

Hello,

That sounds like it might be something I should try out.

The tape I'm using is actually "transparent" 3M Duct tape. Very sticky, and quite strong, but it does dry out and lose grip over time.