Still technically "gone" from here for another week and a half, but couldn't help messing around with Paint for mod ideas. Car's back at home so I can't actually do anything until then:
So this "mod" combines several mods into one:
- Tail extension (already complete just not yet mounted to my car).
- Rear wheel skirts (using a modified version of my original prototype, which would've worked except that my smooth wheel covers aren't 100% smooth..)
- Side skirts (using two $7 lengths of rain gutter, will probably paint instead of leaving white as in picture)
- Rear Wheel spats
- Boat-tailling behind rear tires
- Rear belly pan + diffuser (if I can fab one that doesn't add drag since I don't have a belly pan for the front or middle)
...all tied together into one giant ecomod.
No actual rear window kammback is planned due to it's effect on rear visibility + cost of materials to make a rear window + complexity in angles and such. I might experiment with VGs later on, but we'll see. Rear of the 7th gen Civic sedan seems to be aerodynamic enough so that probably over half of the air remains attached, unlike other sedans such as the '08 Nissan Versa, for example.
Further specifications:
- Tail extension would be the only part connected to trunk lid, meaning that rear trunk access isn't compromised.
- Material would be duct tape covered cardboard just like my other mods, except that covering that much cardboard would take a LOT of work, so I might end up buying coroplast.
- Above the white rain gutter side skirts is some "filler" cardboard/coroplast to keep the side of the car flush with the tires instead of curving inward, which will make the side skirt implementation easier, unless this might hurt by adding drag?
- Would this mod get me in trouble legally with the law since it covers the inner parking lights and reverse lights, but keeps the brake lights and turn signals visible, albeit not from all angles? If I can get away with this I might just remove the bulbs from the inner taillights since they'd be covered anyway and save me a watt or two of electricity (not to mention the huge amount of maybe half an ounce of weight
).
- I'm also assuming I'd have to relocate my license plate as follows?
What do y'all think? I know I've posted similar posts to this before, but I'm probably going to start working on this as soon as I get back from my trip; also, implementing this would definitely be my most expensive mod to date, so if the returns are minimal (<1 mpg) then it wouldn't be worth it.