with a little more ecomodder education, i realized what a huge cavern i had between the fuel tank and the rear bumper cover. after some pondering over what to cover it with, i found a colorplast election sign laying in the street. yes, i know that stealing election signs from peoples' yard can get you in a lot of trouble, but this was litter in the street (blocking the bike lane!) and covered with staples, meaning it had been stapled to the wooden streetlight post that was nearby, which i'm pretty sure is against city ordinance. with some minor cutting to fit around the wheel well, it was taped in place using black duct tape. that was last fall, and i really didn't think the tape would stay adhesive through the temperature changes and snow of the winter, but miraculously i only had to replace a couple of strips that were hanging off this spring. i'm not sure of the overall effect on FE, since winter driving is death on FE.
the "parachute:"
the rear bellypan:
