Quote:
Originally Posted by coltonandrew
Hello hello! I'm am about to have a large undertaking.. taking a 94 Chevy Astro van w/ 4.3L i6 engine powering an automatic all wheel drive train and turning it into a 30mpg+ hwy van.
I need to make a 33% increase!!
I'm starting with the basic weight reductions and air dams for the front and rear wheels.. maybe the front if I can do so safely. Also as always, plugs, wires, filters and cheap sensors.
I need ideas or success stories with monsters like these! I'm trying to not break the bank here, anything will be considered. No boat tails though, its already almost 13ft of truck like van, I cant add another 8ft for the tail hahah
 |
If you did the 33% mpg increase solely through streamlining you'd need a 66% drag reduction.
If you were starting at say,Cd 0.34,then you'd have to go below Cd 0.12.
I think that your windshield is not of sufficient curvature that you could pull off extreme front modifications to get you near Klemperer's 'minivan' of 1922,with Cd 0.16.And it had about 3-feet of boat tail.
A reverse-Template could get you to around Cd 0.142,but you'd never be able to see out of the windshield at the angle it would require.
You might try some extreme cardboard and duct tape mods long enough to see if they 'showed' at the pump.
The 1987 Renault Vesta II was Cd 0.19.
The Mercedes-Benz Boxfish is Cd 0.19.
Both of these would be worth looking at as starting points.
The Pontiac Trans Sport,Cd 0.30 will get Cd 0.12 with a full boat tail.Lay tested 'it' in 1933.It could be inflatable.
My VW Transporter went from 27 mpg,to up to 35 mpg with a full belly pan,rear wheel skirts,steel radial tires and 18-inches of boat tail.
That enormous wake behind the Astro is killing you at the pump.