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Old 11-19-2010, 11:34 AM   #44 (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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I've put together a pair of side skirts made from foam swimming noodles (the square kind, which you can get at kiefer.com for like $3 a pop), which will be attached with velcro extreme, and they're currently waiting to be painted. I think I've mentioned my motorcycle buddy somewhere in this thread, and he's very handy with a can of spray paint, so they're currently in his possession. Once painted and dried, and once the car is prepared, installation will take no time at all, and I'll definitely post pics then. I was going to post some pics of the temporary "trip strip" I made in response to cd's post (previous page, I believe), but the camera's upstairs and the car's downstairs, and by the time I removed the tape I realized I hadn't taken any pictures. It was clear packing tape over a wire with clear insulation, so it looked pretty goofy. I had it in three strips, with one down each side and one along the top right before the hatch. I think I'm going to cut the side strips into two pieces so I don't have to deal with trying to go over the molding along the bottom of the window, and the permanent strip will be made with duct tape. I don't drive on the highway very much right now, but this whole aeromod thing is for our move (3 1/2 weeks away at this point - I'd better hurry!) from Oregon to Alabama. I figure if I can get the drag under control, we can make 40mpg average the whole trip, which would be a heck of a lot better than the 25mpg we made out here (the car was packed to the gills with a Schwinn Cruiser on the back, which has since been sold).

In short, I'm all bark and no bite. I am going to remove the vortex generators, as they seem to do nothing at all on a hatchback, and I'm going to try adding some sandpaper-like tape to the A pillars to see if that reduces wind noise; I've read that vortex generator tape, which is used on airplanes and gliders (unlike the delta wings, which are mainly used on Mitsubishi Evos), can be really effective. I don't have any of that (turbulator is one of the main brands, I think), but I do have fining pads from an optical lab which will never see use. Hopefully I'll get to that over the weekend, though if the weather doesn't break, I'm going to have to use my buddy's garage for all of this.
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