Quote:
Originally Posted by basjoos
The easiest way to determine your car’s potential for mpg improvement via aeromods is to find out how much your mileage improves when drafting. A removable Reese hitch mounted boat tail would the single biggest potential mpg improver (and can also be used for additional cargo storage space). Beyond that, wheel well covers, double side skirts in combination with wheel spats in front of each wheel and a mini-boat tail behind the back wheel. Since your car starts out with pretty good aerodynamics (0.24 Cd), check your grill opening size, airflow pattern through the engine compartment, and existing underpanelling for potential improvements over the OEM equipment.
I have the same problem with my 0.28 Cd Camry hybrid, great mileage below 60 mph, but big drops in 70+ mph interstate driving. I’m retired, so I don’t do much interstate driving, but if I still had a long interstate commute, I would be adding these mods to my Camry.
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I made a few mods to my 1999 Chevrolet Metro that included a lower air dam, grill blocks, and also a belly pan that fit from the stabilizer bar to the back bumper. My testing measurements were not exactly scientific as I just recorded mpg at each fill up. The increase in mpg from these mods was only a slight improvement. The belly pan did make the car ride much quieter though. Then I fabricated a partial camback and was surprised when my freeway mpg went from 41 to 47. I thought it was a fluke so i repeated driving a full tank on the highway driving normally and the result was 47 mpg each time. A fifteen % increase in mpg is nothing to sneeze at. At any rate modifying the back of the car is where you will get the most benefit from aero mods. If you could make the front of the car more bullet like you could gain probably as much of an increase.