Hello Ecomodder denizens,
I'm a recent arrival in a rural part of the UK, and I am the proud young owner of a slightly dented white 1998 Nissan Micra, with a widowmaking 54 horsepower on tap.
Here it is, in front of a strange little bit of Canadian territory in England.
The Micra's only vice in my eyes is its motorway performance - there's a lot of wind noise and the engine needs to put in a lot of work once you hit 50mph and up. I think improving this is definitely doable - my first thought is that the rear of the car should be less steeply raked downwards to keep the flow attached longer, an imitation Kammback might be in order?
I think on the front, the grille could be covered up at least partially with little noticeable loss in cooling. The Micra has two separate inlets for air on the front, one is probably enough for the tiny 1-liter CG10DE engine.
I'd also like to delete the boxy wing mirrors and fit cameras with fairings, but in the UK I'm pretty sure that's not a legal possibility yet. One day, perhaps!
I would love to hear from anyone else who owns a K11 and has tried some mods out, it's a great spartan little car and I'd like to hang onto mine. I've no clue what the Cd is and that would be a place to start!
Aside from my Micra, I am interested in history and aeronautical engineering, and before COVID-19 threw us all for a loop I spent some time gliding as well.
Any suggestions for potential aerodynamic optimisations, are more than welcome! Let me know what you think of my plans thus far!