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Old 07-27-2010, 08:21 PM   #27 (permalink)
iplaysdrums
Learning a lot
 
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Join Date: May 2010
Location: Duluth, MN
Posts: 30

Tony - '15 Honda Fit EX
90 day: 40.3 mpg (US)
Thanks: 6
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The tires (tyres) are 195/55 R16 (16" rims). I thought about going with smaller rims, but I really don't think they'd fit around the brakes =D. I actually just got new tires yesterday (Bridgestone Potenza G019 GRIDs). Once I get them broken in a bit, I'll experiment with jacking the pressure up. I was floating between 40 and 50 with my old tires, but I want these to last a good long time, so I'll have to monitor things pretty closely. The tread on these tires is deeper than I've seen on many road tires - for a second I thought, "whoa, those are rally tires!"

Loving the pics, botsapper and johnf! I'm thinking more along the lines of what superchow is talking about, though. Someone posted a video about the Volt a while back, and the 5mm "trip device" they have going all along the back of that vehicle has been a big inspiration for what I'm planning. The second stage of the wheel skirts will hopefully extend beyond the rear bumper, flanging slightly at the tip for a clean release. The removable partial boattail/kammback (I really don't like that term, which probably stems from the fact that it's an Americanized [*******ized?] version of Kammtail/K-tail, named after the German guy who invented/discovered it), which I'll be building onto a bike rack (once I get one), will extend back a couple of feet, employing a similar "trip device" to the wheel skirt extensions, and that will take care of the top and bottom of the car. I'm not sure what to do with the remaining couple of feet in the middle - I may go with vortex generators like the ones you use, johnf. Where did you get those, by the way? I've found them a couple of places online, but I'm a very thrifty man, and I want to get the best deal possible.

On the same lines (i.e. - me being cheap), my birthday is later this week, and I plan to use some birthday money to buy a rotary tool (think Dremel), which will greatly aid in fabrication. That said, I don't have the wheel skirts cut yet, but once I do, I plan to attach them using the stock holes in the bumper, possibly even reattaching the existing arch covers over the top, though that might end up looking goofy AND increasing drag. I'll probably put pizza pans on the front wheels (think racing discs, thanks very much to whomever mentioned that a page or two ago), attaching them via screws though the existing holes in the center hubs.

I think I may have mentioned this before, but I want everything I'm doing to be reversible, so in the unlikely event that I sell the car, the new owner won't necessarily have to have a permanently equipped AeroMINI.

edit - apparently we're not allowed to use the word b@st@rd. good to know.
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