Upper grille block!
I cut a piece of black coroplast to the size and shape of the upper grille. I thought about making a template out of tissue paper, but it proved easy enough to cut it slightly large, do a test fit, and trim as needed.
I wonder how much of the lower grille I can block. I'd like to do a more sophisticated adjustable lower block than I had on the Insight. This would be especially helpful for this car, to reduce warm-up time.
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The car has 300 miles on it now, and I'm getting slightly better than the EPA Combined 50mpg. Weather is autumnal, and the driving has been a mix of highway, suburban, and urban.
Worst FE so far was about 25mpg on a 1.7mi trip to the hardware store today. The engine warms up awfully slowly in gentle city driving. It didn't help that I accidentally left the cabin heater on. This is a route I drive fairly often, so I'll keep working on it.
The engine bay is getting a bit grimy. This isn't necessarily a problem, but it is a symptom of aerodynamic issues:
1. There's an awful lot of radiator area. I'll keep an eye on engine coolant and inverter coolant temperatures, and I'll bet I can block most of the grille.
2. There's a hood gasket, but only between the headlights.
3. The underside of the engine bay is largely open. I'll see what I can do to correct that without drilling too many holes.
A view from the front:
The (total lack of) underbody panels:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cobb
Wow, Robertsmalls got a prius...  Dont worry, it wont be long before you are approaching 100 mpg in that vehicle too.  |
I wish this were true. The C is good at many things, but getting 100mpg is not one of them.
AJ: I got the Two. I thought long and hard about getting the One, which would have been $1500 cheaper, but the One gets the fleet seats and is missing things like the center armrest, cargo area cover, cruise control, split rear seats, etc.