Quote:
Originally Posted by 3-Wheeler
There is one concern I have for getting gas consumption readings, similar to Metro and his tail extension:
1) The car without the under body smoothing panels and tail extension
2) The car with them both attached
The Insight has lean burn, and I'm wondering if the car without the aero aids will actually be able to get into lean burn at 55 to 60 mph on an old country road that is flat enough for this. Once in lean burn, the car would need to able to stay there for at least one mile.
Of course, this would need to be repeatable in both directions and for several iterations.
I live near the Interstate as well, but the A-B-A testing would all have to be done in the wee hours of the night, and it takes about 1.5 hours just to jack up the car high enough to be able to remove all the body panels from underneath the car. And they are held on with lots of fasteners. 
Now imagine doing this for three test sessions (A-B-A), and getting all this done in one day while there is little traffic on the road, and the atmospheric conditions have not changed much!!
I do however, think that driving at a constant speed will give better results than coast down testing, again similar to Metro. 
Jim. |
Ah Ha. NOW you are beginning to have testing concerns like me
Anyway, a bit of information. My 2006 seems to maintain lean burn well at 55 MPH on level, or nearly level, roads. I don't think you will have any problems with that. The problem I see is getting a stable speed and stable throttle setting as you approach your test segment. Lots of stuff to control and look at. You gotta get past acceleration/deceleration, into lean burn, IMA battery fully charged, stay out of assist - it's a challenge but probably doable with the right road and some practice.
I think that you are correct that the best approach is to test all mods at once. In addition to underbelly and boattail, I'd advocate at least grill block (That big old lower grill opening looks lossy.) and maybe even some mild rear wheel smoothers behind the wheels. There is no point in introducing a lot of "noise" with incremental improvements. Just go all the way to what you are willing to live with. JMHO.