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slowbro · 11-23-2011, 05:38 PM

After making huge changes to my driving habits in the past few months, I decided that it is time to aerodynamically modify my vehicle starting with the upper grill on my car.

Here's a side view:

Before I started, I wanted to test the aerodynamics with a piece of cardboard that I spraypainted black. I also drew Audi rings in colored pencil to be funny. It's an Audi Aveo.

I ended up getting impatient because testing conditions weren't ideal, so I started working on a more permanent coroplast upper grill cover. I wanted to make it easy to put in and take out so I decided that using the screws that the original grill mounts with was a good idea. I circled where the screws are on the original grill in green.

Here's the grill taken out:

Here's my coroplast grill after very few measurements and very much guessing and checking. (Measure 0 times, cut 5 times)

And here's the back:

It screws in twice on bottom (next picture) and three times on top (picture after that).

Here's the final product with the hood closed:

And here's a side view:

Sorry for the long post. One more thing. I attempted to test this modification but I couldn't find any significant difference. I'm not expecting there to be much difference but I was hoping for it to be measurable. I tested A-B-A style @55 mph measuring fuel economy with two A runs down and back (original grill), three B runs down and back (new grill), and finally two A runs down and back again. I'm thinking the wind was too variable that day to get reliable test results (Average wind speed - 8.63 mph, maximum sustained wind speed - 15.00 mph). If I did coast-down testing would I get more reliable and hopefully measurable data? Please give your thoughts.
-Thank you

11-23-2011, 05:38 PM	#1 (permalink)
slowbro Coroplast Engineer Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: suburban Chicago Posts: 80 AV - '04 Chevy Aveo sedan - not LS 90 day: 34.28 mpg (US) Jolteon - '00 Honda Insight MT Team Honda 90 day: 77.25 mpg (US) Thanks: 27 Thanked 25 Times in 11 Posts	Chevy Aveo Grill Block After making huge changes to my driving habits in the past few months, I decided that it is time to aerodynamically modify my vehicle starting with the upper grill on my car. Here's a side view: Before I started, I wanted to test the aerodynamics with a piece of cardboard that I spraypainted black. I also drew Audi rings in colored pencil to be funny. It's an Audi Aveo. I ended up getting impatient because testing conditions weren't ideal, so I started working on a more permanent coroplast upper grill cover. I wanted to make it easy to put in and take out so I decided that using the screws that the original grill mounts with was a good idea. I circled where the screws are on the original grill in green. Here's the grill taken out: Here's my coroplast grill after very few measurements and very much guessing and checking. (Measure 0 times, cut 5 times) And here's the back: It screws in twice on bottom (next picture) and three times on top (picture after that). Here's the final product with the hood closed: And here's a side view: Sorry for the long post. One more thing. I attempted to test this modification but I couldn't find any significant difference. I'm not expecting there to be much difference but I was hoping for it to be measurable. I tested A-B-A style @55 mph measuring fuel economy with two A runs down and back (original grill), three B runs down and back (new grill), and finally two A runs down and back again. I'm thinking the wind was too variable that day to get reliable test results (Average wind speed - 8.63 mph, maximum sustained wind speed - 15.00 mph). If I did coast-down testing would I get more reliable and hopefully measurable data? Please give your thoughts. -Thank you Last edited by slowbro; 11-23-2011 at 07:44 PM..