I guess this can be a place for me to post my ideas/questions... And some day my build/results
Goal: To ecomod an SUV in a manner which maintains it's ground clearance, approach angle, departure angle, cooling system for long slow drives in the mountains, factory v8, and AWD/4WD. But to accomplish gains in FE which can justify the mods/expense
I love seeing all of these awesome cars and trucks getting crazy good FE! BUT, lowering, air dams, side skirts, full boat tails, nose cones, wheel skirts, etc etc, aren't always a good idea for some of us idiots
Vehicle: 1997 Mercury Mountaineer, 5.0 V8, automatic trans, AWD (kind of the exact opposite of what you want to start with hahaha)
Wish list of mechanical upgrades: exhaust/intake, electric rad fan, eventual swap of a true 4wd rather than awd transfercase (allow for RWD operation), and of course an OBDII gauge cluster for monitoring
Now on to the aeromods!
The Front:
Issues are ground clearance, approach angle, under body aero nightmare, big tires to cause turbulence (they are only 30" at the moment, but could be upt to 33" in the future), and frontal area.
This is my initial thought, could one merge a belly pan, offroad/prerunner bashplate, grill blocks, and an aero nose?
If the following two noses got naughty and had a baby... Would it be a good thing or a bad thing? From an FE geared aero standpoint. I know we try to cut flow under the vehicle with airdams and side skirts, but would this allow for a decrease in frontal load and a smoothing of under body airflow? Since dropping the truck, or adding an effective airdam aren't an option.
(Weather spotters Matrix was the first example I came to)
The Middle:
Haven't figure out how yet, but full length and width belly pan... Again, the issue is clearance. Otherwise I would just drop down to the ground and go clear under the rear axle
The Rear:
Issues are ground clearance, departure angle, the wicked bad aero of the body in general.
Idea is to design a boat tailish aero back, that will be mounted to a swing away bumper. Spare tire, recovery gear, jack, axe, etc etc to be stored in the tail section. My initial drawing has used the aero template from these forums, but I can't help but feel like it is shaped wrong when I look at the boat tails I see on this forum
. I'm also wondering how far back it would need to go in order to see substantial gains in FE. Again, I know the bottom angle is wrong... But it's the necessary angle for departure. Ideas by Freebeard and Aerohead involve "wings" that drop from the bottom, or even having the lower portion adjustable for hwy vs "rubicon clearance" as aerohead described it haha
Any thoughts on shape or length would be greatly appreciated. The sides would be the same sloping curve as the top, with all seams being rounded as opposed to "creases". A rear pan/diffuser would help assist air along it's path to the underside of the tail, although design of that unit hasn't been considered yet. Nor do I know if any treatment behind the wheels would be worth it?
I have read through many pages of comments and designs here... And I totally get the ideas, just not sure how to apply them to my truck.
Thanks so much in advance to any responses, and the community at large for all the inspiration!
~C