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I understand you're all about the MPG, but let me throw this out there to you. People who want to conserve wildlife or save certain species often choose one that is cute or covers a broad range in hopes of saving other species as well. If you show the performance community the benefits of aerodynamics, or saving fuel at part throttle, they are in a way saving fuel. Something I haven't seen mentioned on ecomodder, but may be here is speed through the turn. While most of your driving is straight, maintaining high corner speed means you don't have to accelerate as much when you exit the turn. Every morning I drive the interstate to work. I take the on ramp much faster than anyone else....it's my little moment of joy on the entire drive. I'm not like everyone else who goes 10 mph over the speed limit. Going fast in a straight line isn't all that much fun for me especially 10 mph over the limit....ohhh, feel the rush, not really. This is just fast enough to waste gas and get you a ticket. Time and time again I see folks who nail the brakes on their tanks just to floor it in the straights. It just doesn't make sense to me. I know you guys don't "floor it", but if you can maintain higher corner speeds not only by lowering the center of gravity (as most of you do), but also with the addition of sway bars and bushings then you can maintain a consistent speed even through the turn, despite your high energy tires. I'm running some stock 14" tires off a junk car I bought and they stick great in the turns. Of course all this is dependent on the traffic in front of you. One other ecomodder story for all who read this. I was traveling to Washington D.C. from Florida once and as I left Florida I noticed a Florida tag in Georgia. I also noticed this vehicle because he was going 10-15 mph faster than me. I kept the speed steady and at the post limits. I traveled straight through without stopping. This was in my wife's 2001 Pink Civic Coupe getting 37 mph or so. The car that passed us was a Honda CRV. He passed us about 4 times during the trip, but I never passed him, so I know he was constantly stopping for fuel due to pushing his tank through the air at such speeds. We reached Virginia for our second fuel stop about 800+ miles into the trip and guess who we met at the pump at 4 a.m.? Yep, Mr. Crv with his Florida tag. I didn't say a thing, but maybe he figured it out that he had seen this slow (to his standards) pink Civic the entire trip. How do you miss a Pink Civic? Okay, I'm a little off topic, but the story was interesting. Basically, if you can save the Florida Panther, but you're also saving the rare moth that inhabits the same area wouldn't you do it? Show the lead footers the benefits of what you've done and you'll win. No, they may not slow down, but ultimately they are using less fuel to drive the way they do, you've won. I'm still going to put the pedal to the metal on occasion, but for the most part you guys are winning me over and I'll be conserving fuel. Better fuel mileage with the same engine and better aerodynamics = more power felt.....not that you've added any more power, but the car works easier. Don't hate the lead footers, show them the benefits of aerodynamics.
Thanks again.
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