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Thanks.....
I was quite amazed, but not completely surprised after estimating some of the reductions in CD from under tray, diffuser, air dam and tire faring work that have been posted. I suspect that the inherent low rpm design of the engine, coupled with some of the simple mechanical improvements allowed the engine to run more efficiently at very low load than most typical higher HP engines.
This involved no special driving tricks P&G etc. and I didn't notice any significant tail winds at all.
I still have a few things I would like to try.
1)Swapping in late model mirror which probably are much better aero than the originals. They are abetter match the best mirrors in some of the aero studies referred to here.
2) Improve the aero in front and behind the tires.
3) Reduce air flow through grill at high speed with either an active or passive grill design.
4) Test and improve rear aero
5) Partial cover of wheel wells.
I do wonder if the mirrors are actually reducing the wake because in the mirror studies, the rear wake appeared to be reduced with mirrors that threw the air outward. I suspect it rushed in at a greater angle to fill the wake than air just traveling along the side of the car.
I also suspect that the bump up in the roof line may be producing the same effect. This seem to show up in the VW Van aero tests with different tops.
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