New... Aerocivic has a web site: www.aerocivic.com
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I started this project after the Katrina-insired gas price runup since I have a long commute. I first learned to drive during the 1970's oil embargo and have been perfecting my hypermiling tenchniques ever since. My car is a 92 Civic CX, which I bought new, and was giving me low 60's to low 50's before I started aero modding it.
Side view
Side view with open hatch
Rear view of boattail
Cargo area inside boatail, extending the interior of the car into the boattail added 20cu ft to the interior space. Also there is a hidden compartment under the new load floor in the boattail.
Radiator inlet slot (coroplast has since been replaced with aluminum sheet)
The end result is a car with such low drag that the results of coastdown testing is linear out to 90mph (it coasts almost as well at 80mph as it does at 50mph). I have to get it over 90mph before I start to feel the wind load from high-speed driving. OEM max speed was 95mph. I have had it up to 100mph with plenty of power remaining at that speed (estimated top speed of about 140mph). Wind noise is much reduced from stock. Approximate mileage on a flat road at 85F, 95mpg at 30 to 65mph, 85mpg at 70mph, 65mpg at 80mph, 50mpg at 90mph.
Additional mods planned, include replacing the current one-size-fits-all radiator inlet slot with a driver-adjustible radiator door. Eventually I plan to automate the door by using a Basic Stamp or similar process controller to monitor the coolant temps and adjust the opening to the actual cooling needs.
Most of my driving is at night, especially in the winter, and night driving is costing me 2 to 3 mpg in additional electrical load from the lights. About half of this loss is from the parking lights, the remainder is from the headlights. I want to replace the parking and dome lights with LED's. Since retrofit LED headlight kits are still several years off, I want to investigate installing a switch to kill one of my headlights and/or a dimmer control to reduce the headlight's intensity and power drain for situations where I don't need the full intensity of the headlights for visibility.
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