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Old 02-02-2016, 09:48 AM   #10 (permalink)
EcoMCA
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Join Date: Mar 2015
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One of the other quirky aero features (as well as running rear wheel spats and self levelling suspension on all 4 corners) on these cars (Saloon versions) was that they have a concave rear windscreen. They were never fitted with rear wipers as this design was meant to have the added benefit of keeping the rear screen clear.
Another nice thing is they run longerons the length of the chassis pretty much on both sides which would be ideal for the mounting of under-trays.

They also run at the front a somewhat tucked-back front bumper (for the later S2 ones though this one is S1 with SS thin bumper - aero improvements here I would suggest could easily be made by fitting later bumpers and bringing the lower bumper forward to level with it's leading edge and adding a flexible lower extension, or in this case potentially mounting a lower custom bumper to the over-rider mounts.

Depending on how you feel about changing the looks of the car/making your own custom parts.

Other additional efficiency gains could be had by fitting an electric motor to power the Hydropneumatic pump rather than the belt drive and also to lose the aircon if it's got it (many people just drop the belt off in any case).
Obviously a conversion to manual gearbox would help but would be a fairly big undertaking. And there's also the option of swapping to diesel power (there were a few examples in Europe LHD models called the limousine which had the prestige body and spec. but with diesel)....if you could, I'd go with the S2 DTR Turbo 2 with intercooler engine as it's super nice and powerful for the time (120bhp - saloon version held record for a bit as fastest production diesel car) with plenty of torque (and can coax good mpg's) though there are a few caveats on that motor.

Oh and little niceties on the eco-tweakers front... they came with 2 mirrors as an option so you can in fact remove one and I believe there were also small rubber deflectors in front of the wheels (not sure if they were optional).

All in it depends how far you want to go with the car as to originality/looks etc. heck it's an ideal candidate for electric/hybrid (certainly the estate version is!) but I'd say it's a good starting point for an aero car and I think that aero-ing it up fits in nicely with its original design philosophy.

Regards,
EcoMCA.
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