Quote:
Originally Posted by skyking
Another TDI fan here, I have a couple of beetles.
Your ranger is a good candidate for an aeroshell. how you build it depends on your skills and time.
One method that I'd do for the fun of it is wood strips, like a cedar strip canoe.
Instead of removing the plywood formers, plan on cutting most of them away and leave a 2" bulkhead there. This does a couple of things. Now you can glue and fasten the strips to that for easier construction, use less formers, and it will be stronger. It also give you attachment points.
If you want a lift lid, cut it out and build a gutter down each side of the fixed part for the lid to rest on and to carry rain to the back.
4 oz fiberglass is invisible and will show the wood perfectly. 6 oz is not too bad either.
coupled with a few other mods it should net 10% MPG improvement. That is where my beetle is at, around 45 or so.
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Thanks for the response. I'm not necessarily following your description of the construction of the aeroshell but the visualization of the "canoe method" paints a picture.
During the summer months I'm averaging 54mpg in my 5spd Jetta - no mods, no hypermiling, standard 50/50 (city/hwy) commute. With the same engine and same commute in my truck I can just hit 40mpg. I'd like to bridge that gap some.