Friendly Wager: 60 mpg 95 Mercury Tracer

[M_a_t_t]

Originally Posted by M_a_t_t

I found a 95 tracer wagon just down the road from me. Looks like it got traded in to a used car lot. 112k miles and same drivetrain as my car. The important thing though is that it appears to have little to no rust. I am going to stop by tomorrow and ask about it. The dealer that it was traded into doesn't sell many older cars. The oldest on their website (for my city and all nearby ones) is an 05. Maybe something will work out.

I talked to JD Byrider and they don't sell trade ins to the public. They all go to auction. Found out where they are sent. The auction doesn't sell to the public either . So I see 2 options.

1. Give up on the car
2. Find out when it is going to be auctioned (the auction website says what cars go on what day). Talk to the buyer of the car in the parking lot and try to buy from them.

I did some looking and found 1 or 2 potential other cars in Kentucky/Tennessee area.

I went for a non-boat tail personal best from my Mom's house. Got 45 mpg with EOffC coasting most of the trip. Not bad for a pretty much stock car. I believe my PB with the tail and rear wheel skirts was 50 mpg.

[me and my metro]

Do you know any small car lot dealers that go to that auction? Just ask them to buy it for you. I have a dealer friend and have bought most of my vehicles through him for the last 30 years.

[Xist]

A Soldier offered to take me to an auction, but every time that I asked how he was doing he didn't respond.

[M_a_t_t]

Originally Posted by me and my metro

Do you know any small car lot dealers that go to that auction? Just ask them to buy it for you. I have a dealer friend and have bought most of my vehicles through him for the last 30 years.

Not really. I asked the place I bought this car from, but they don't do business with them. I thought about asking around, but haven't yet.

Originally Posted by Xist

A Soldier offered to take me to an auction, but every time that I asked how he was doing he didn't respond.

I don't understand why people do that. Did you mention wanting to go beforehand?

[M_a_t_t]

I greased up the passenger front window regulator, checked the rear wheel bearing, and cleaned the car out. Turned out to be the drum rubbing on the backing plate, bearing was fine. I also found one of the rattling noises that I hear at idle while stopped. The door lock peg/pull tabs are loose because I removed the door panels. Now they shake and tap on the metal part of the door. I looked in my grommets and was unable to find one that fit. I think I am going to try some shrink wrap.

I decided to pick up a small paper route for some extra $$$. I am going to try and use my motorcycle on nicer mornings and use the car when it is raining and eventually gets too cold. Riding the bike should let me spend less in gas and arguably more fun.

[M_a_t_t]

I started to wash the car, then decided that it wasn't worth my time

Instead I decided to try something. Adding a sharp rear corner to the tail light and rear bumper. Unfortunately the camera settings weren't quite right and it looks like 3 of the tufts got stuck. I am going to try something a little different and re-test. I figured I'd still post it though in case anyone wants to offer any insight. I wasn't able to put a full corner on because it was going to block the turn signal portion of the tail light. I think I am going to try that for 2.0 and if it shows improvement then try to make a work around for it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lNc...hannel=M_a_t_t

[M_a_t_t]

Here is 2.0, I found a plastic sheet, cut to shape and taped it on. I am going to try and get another video tomorrow for testing. If it works well I might try to re-create it in steel.

[M_a_t_t]

Got some tuft testing done. I took the gif's straight from the video, so if you can't/don't watch the video you won't miss out on anything. I had a hard time getting the gif of the modified version, its shown better in the video, especially at 0:19 (play at .25x speed).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RavN...hannel=M_a_t_t

I would say it shows promise. Thoughts?

I will probably make something using less tape so I can remove it easier for testing.

EDIT: I remade the modified gif and replaced the original version that I posted.

[M_a_t_t]

I've been thinking about making a kamm back off the roofline that doesn't interfere with the trunk opening. Got some measurements to try and work with. It's got a decent distance that I can use for it.



Plenty of room for improvement too.

[M_a_t_t]

I made a quick and dirty kamm-back and removed the driver side mirror. I am hoping to test out some motorcycle mirrors as replacements. My hypothesis is that since the stalks move the mirror body away from the body of the car, replicating some of the newer cars as well as high end sports cars, it will decrease drag. Also partially building off of a test JulianEdgar has done.

First pic Julian's (and I believe his wife?) testing comparing car mirror vs motorcycle mirror (yamaha R6 motorcycle vs 1st gen insight). The other component to consider is the interference drag that the 2 mirrors have with the car body.




I also paid more attention to my fuel mileage for my paper route. .73 gal used over 28.7 miles = 39.9 MPG. I think that's pretty decent for an auto.

I made a pressure puck for testing too. Some scrap 3/16" flat stock, an R/C radio antenna, 1mm & 3mm drill bits plus some JB weld. I haven't tested anything with it yet, but plan to finish testing the separation edge I trialed earlier.


I haven't rounded the edges yet, but plan to before using.

I will post pictures later today after it gets light out.