[cfg83]

aerohead -

Originally Posted by aerohead

I just visited with my rural mail carrier this morning on way to town.He drives a Jimmy,and fuel bill last month was $1,200.Ouch!!!!!!!!! I know you have real winters where you live,but if you can,loose the 4-wheel drive anyway you can do it.That might be 3-mpg right there.If you do primarily highway driving,then aero mods could help.Your biggest enemy,once up to speed,is the enormous turbulent wake behind the Jimmy.I'm working on a short boat tail for my friend's Toyota Highlander,and he's in the same boat you are.He has a receiver-hitch and we're going to construct a "slide-in" boat-tail,which will add about 30-inches(750mm) to the length of the SUV,but it will drop the Cd from 0.34,to 0.27,and his highway mpg should jump to 31.6mpg,from 28.The tail will be on a cargo carrier that slides into the receiver,and swings away for access to the rear hatch.I'm not sure of the Cd for the Jimmy,but the S-10 its based on was 0.42 and the wagon style roofline of the Jimmy should drop drag by 5%,so maybe your sitting at around Cd 0.4.This is where the lion's share of your highway fuel dollars are going and none of the other aero mods you do will compare to what a tail can do,if you can deal with the extra length.

What I like about this is that you can get a hitch for almost any car :

1999 Saturn S-Series Curt Receiver Hitches, Curt Hitch Receiver
1993 Honda Civic Curt Receiver Hitches, Curt Hitch Receiver
2007 Scion xB Curt Receiver Hitches, Curt Hitch Receiver
2008 Toyota Yaris Curt Receiver Hitches, Curt Hitch Receiver

And who knows, maybe I could actually use it for what it's for!!!!

CarloSW2