Import Tuner Magazine : Project Sipper ('92 Civic VX)

[Xist]

Originally Posted by samwichse

Why did they make such a big deal about it being PRACTICAL, not like us ecomodders, but something PRACTICAL. They said PRACTICAL about 10 times like some kind of mantra... good for every day driving.

Then they proceeded to gut the entire interior, something most people here wouldn't even do due to the noise/discomfort. And remove the air conditioning. And replace the steel doors with "for offroad use only" cf parts. Would you want to get into a side impact with a brittle door like that to your side?

Seems to me they're going about it exactly 180 degrees from practical.

I was wondering if they would actually improve their mileage with their modifications, but it sounds like they are reducing enough weight to make a small difference.

I joked about it once. I am positive that none of us have replaced body panels with coroplast, so I am pretty sure that none of us would approve of that one.

[spacemanspif]

Originally Posted by Xist

Exactly where are those headlights pointing? They seem to be about 45° away from each other.

They are the turn signals (or just running lights?). Look up Lexus sc300 to see pics of what it looks like with the bumper on.

I think the people in charge started with the drag spoiler and windows and let the "full race trim" idea get a little out of hand. That car will not be "practical" at all for the reasons already listed above like noise, comfort and safely. But I guess drag racers (and racers in general) have a little trouble switching gears to economy mode. What these guys are building is a slow drag car, end of story. I'll bet that once they test the economy of the car on their little road trip, it will go back under the knife and get a full drag race build under the hood...

[kaiba]

Notice the warm air intake

[slownugly]

I see lots of race inspired aero on cars on this site. It works on both ends of the spectrum. So they aren't screwing it up by doing this. They are just making it crazy impractical because of the price.

[Xist]

A boat tail, in general, increases fuel economy by around ten percent, right? How feasible is it to create one, reducing weight in the process?

How much weight would you need to lose to improve economy by ten percent?

They are, at least, creating a Kamm-back, right?

They dropped it, which does improve aerodynamics, but how does that compare with an air dam and\or belly pan?

[mloveland78]

Scott: "Chuck smoothed out years worth of dents and dings to the body panels before his son Joey prepped and painted the Civic using Mariner Blue (DU) found on the earliermodel Mazda Miata."
- f

They just paid $$$$ to remove 30 pounds, then they add 30 pounds of body filler?
But seriously I commend them on focusing on something meaningful for a change. I have a '94 VX with the interior delete option, radio and antenna delete, mirror delete and its blue. Cost me $2000 and when I got home from work today after a 30 mile commute mixed driving the MPGuino read 71.26 mpg. That works for me.

[Bugzilla]

One would think that the whole reason for this build is to save money through higher mpg. Considering that they have more money in carbon fiber than I have in my Vx that gets 60mpg one would need to drive that for another 20years to realize any savings.

[Xist]

Originally Posted by Bugzilla

One would think that the whole reason for this build is to save money through higher mpg. Considering that they have more money in carbon fiber than I have in my Vx that gets 60mpg one would need to drive that for another 20years to realize any savings.

That only works if you do not peel rubber at every green light and slam on your brakes at every red light!

[California98Civic]

Too much costly ineffective aftermarket stuff. But some pretty cool details about the Civic OEM specs... flywheel weight... aluminum brackets. Like the kamm. Like seeing the weight of doors and the weight on each wheel represented too. Thanks for the link!

Subscribed.

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by Xist

How much weight would you need to lose to improve economy by ten percent?

For my car, commute, and the way I drive, I'd probably have to loose 1,000 lbs to gain 10% in fuel economy.