Quote:
Originally Posted by greengeeker
Thanks for amassing all the information together into an article - very helpful to have this all in one place.
I've put together a TDI Ranger and have been driving it for the last two years with the intentions of improving on the rock steady 39mpg (stock aero) with some aero mods. What I haven't seen (not necessarily directed at your article) is a list of priorities as far as aero is concerned. Which heavy hitters do you need to tackle first to make aero gains so that subsequent aero mods are actually beneficial. On a truck, which has the highest impact on aerodynamic drag? Is the airflow over the bed? Airflow under the truck? Yes, the answer is likely to be different for each truck but the order is going to be different for a truck than it is for a car.
Anyway, on my truck I've tried two things to improve the FE: 1) removed the 3.73 rearend and installed a 3.08 dropping cruising 5th gear rpm by 450rpm. 2) installed a hard tonneau cover on the bed
Neither of these showed any impact on my long term mileage.
I'm considering moving forward with some underbody mods (dam, belly pans) to see if this has a more significant impact.
(I don't have enough posts to include links or pictures so if you want to see info on my truck just google "tdi ranger build tdiclub")
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In rough figures,you might anticipate a 5-mpg gain with :
*grille block
*aeroshell
*full belly pan with diffuser/rocker panel extensions/wheel skirts/gap closures
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To get another 4-mpg on top of that:
*a 'significant' length of boat tail (think 48-inches ).
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So you'd be looking at 48-mpg highway.I'm getting 43-mpg hwy TDI equivalency in the T-100 which has a larger frontal area than the Ranger.