Quote:
Originally Posted by basjoos
Cd reduction would work to improve the high speed performance of any car and is what they do on the Bonneville Salt Flats to increase the speeds of their speed record cars. Since aerodynamic drag is the dominant load factor at higher speeds, the faster you go, the more you'll notice the effects of a low Cd, reducing the amount of power you need to travel at that speed and in effect acting as the equivalent of a horsepower boost at the higher speed. As far as fuel efficiency goes, a low Cd extends the range of speeds where you can still get good fuel economy into the higher speed brackets and a low Cd car will get better fuel economy than an otherwise identical high Cd car at any speed above 30mph, the difference becoming more and more noticable the faster you travel.
The hand accelerator is set up the same as the one on my John Deere tractor (the hand control sets a lower throttle position that can be overidden by pressing on the foot accelerator. The hand throttle only goes from zero to slightly above half throttle and I have trained my reflexes to automatically pull back on the hand throttle whenever I push down the clutch pedal. On the rare occasions when I do forget to pull back on the hand throttle when I push down the clutch, the engine just revs up and reminds me I need to pull back on the hand throttle.
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Hi Basjoos,
Great job!
How big a difference in fuel economy do you think your mods make at 50 or 55 mph?
Which 5 or 10 modifications do you think helped the most (in order of effectiveness if possible)?
Which 5 or 10 modifications do you think produced the most effect with the least work?
Your DWL hand throttle gets overridden by the foot throttle. How hard was that to set up? How hard would it be to make the brake and clutch turn off the throttle?
Thanks!
Best Wishes
,
Mitch