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Hi All,
Well, the reason I want to improve the Cd of the Prius, besides what I posted on PC, is that Excell, Hobbit et al have found what they call SHM, or Super Highway Mode. With a stock Prius, the car can hold this up to about 50 mph. At these speeds, in SHM, the Prius is getting 60 to 75 mpg demonstrated. With reduction in drag force, maybe SHM can be used at 62 to 64 mph (which is the max engine un-fired, still rotating speed) and is what the dictates of the proletariat on Chicagoland freeways pretty much force as a minimum crusing speed. Besides, I can't Drive 55.
There is a discussion on here about having to switch out one's final drive to gain the fuel economy performance lower drag would imply. Well, the Prius kinda does this automatically with its eCVT. There is a video on Google Video from Usbseawolf that shows this action at highway speed. And its quite noticable in a Prius too, when one drives in humid, not-wet overcast days versus driving in dry, sunny (heavy air) days.
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