I just had to show this silly photo I snapped
a split second before my trip ave hit 36mpg.
I call it silly because
of course it's after coasting (engine on) down a long hill. But it does demonstrate what aeromods can do for you ---
I could never have coasted that hill a month ago. I couldn't even glide. Now I P&G a lot.
I was able over the New Years break to tidy up some "loose ends" from last weekend's projects.
- Caulked the edges of the grille block, and added backer rod around the headlights to seal up the front end.
- Made temporary partial front wheel "mini-skirts".
- Sealed the tunnel under the spoiler.
- Tightened the belly screen.
- Tightened the lower grille to make it more flush.
- Deleted the passenger-side mirror. Added a Wink 5-panel rearview.
- Put the tire valves back under the wheel covers.
I know everyone wants to see the partial skirts, but they're nothing special - just a crescent stuck under the fenders. I did them too quickly and in the dark, so I'm embarrassed to show them off. Besides, they're only there until the full skirts are available.
Really, the most clever fix that I'd like to report on was putting the tire valves back under the wheel covers. As I mentioned in the last update, I did the tire valves just like
Concrete's, with even the same brand of valve extenders. But because of the way my valves are placed, one extender didn't give enough protrusion outside the covers to pump the tires, so I had to stack two on top of each other. This meant that the valves stuck out quite a ways. Not only did they look ridiculous sticking out of the smooth cover, but I feared that they were creating a lot of unnecessary turbulence.
My solution was to remove the second valve extender, so that I was left with the first valve extender just below the surface of the wheel cover. Now when I go to pump the tires, I screw on a second extender and pump the tires normally.
This Week's Results:
Here's a crazy irony for the week --
After this week's fillup, I am very disappointed...
... in my calibration!
My fillup was 31.5mpg. New record for a 1-week tank, by +5%!!
But the ScanGauge told me to expect to match my previous best at 30.0mpg. I
thought it was going to be very accurate this week. But it was
5% off.
But what makes matters more uncertain is that I got this fillup at a different station, with the truck in a much different orientation. So really, I have no idea what I got this week. With the extra mods and obviously better coasting power, I
should be beating 30mpg by a lot, and it's strange that it's not showing up on the SG. Maybe the colder mornings really are taking a toll. Or maybe my fuel system just doesn't play well with the ScanGauge. In any case, I guess I really need to stick to the same pump until i get this sorted out.
But hey...
maybe it means my top score ever from the above photo is really 37.8mpg.
Ha ha. That's like 210% of EPA.
