05' Ford Focus ZX3 Hatchback Aeromods

[mbrac]

did you heat the plastic and then from the coutour and let is cool to hold it's shape? of is it so thin that the silicone holds it in place? did you start with black or did you paint it? sorry about all the questions - but this is exactly what I'm trying to do to my 07 ZX3 - Thanks

[tru]

the plastic is very thin, i cut out a thick paper mockup to the desired shape. then trimmed the plastic out from the paper template. i then took a lighter and slowly began bending the plastic to the desired shape, i would heat and bend some then hold up to the car. heat and bend some more and hold up to the car. eventually it was near perfect form, at that point i roughed up the abs where the silicone would adhere and laid a bead of silicone on the car where it would need to touch the plastic. i placed the plastic over the silicone and used painters tape to hold it over night to allow the silicone to firm up.

[mbrac]

Great - Thanks - I love this site - lots of good ideas - I'm actually working on a mod now that would (if it works) result in well over 100 mpg to my 07 Focus (highway only) - without changing anything on the existing design by Ford - just adding a mod - if it works I hope to sell it and retire - either to an oil company (who might never use it) or to Ford to see if they might want to incorporate it into their line of vehicles.....so anyway - thanks for your help on the abs - hope to add it to the vehicle soon.

[tru]

ok...so here is my latest idea...



my only issue is fords want to be spoiler thats part of the hatch body panel.
any thoughts as to how beneficial this would be if i were to seal the cabin up with the hatch lid open as seen here?

[MetroMPG]

Since the hatchback's integrated spoiler sits higher in the airflow when the hatch is partially open, you'll end up with a larger trailing wake, even if you were able to smoothly seal the other gaps.

[tru]

I think i could remove the sheet metal that forms the spoiler and make a custom fiberglass or sheet metal smooth panel. then i would gain about 2 feet of vehicle length that improves the profile. I just wonder how much it would be worth investing in doing so...

[HydroJim]

It would probably be easier to keep the hatch closed to keep the weather out and make a kammback instead.

[suspectnumber961]

* has anyone done TUFT TESTING on the rear of the ZX3? I have a set of AIRTABS I bought cheap off of Ebay...was wanting to mount them on the sides in back...and want to know what the typical flow directions are at various points along the sides...since with previous vortex generator testing I found that not all air flows are going directly to the rear at the back.

* has anyone testing using AC vs windows down in hot weather with this car?

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by tru

Tested a lawn edge Air dam 2 weeks ago and saw no appreciable gain and possible loss of mpg's at cruise. pics below of lawn edging.






the air dam has been cut to act as a deflector for both the front tires.

Also if you look close on the first pic you will see i taped the holes in my steelies, there was no gain noticed, however my wheels/caps stay clean much longer than they used to

FIAT's aerodynamics folks conducted wind tunnel studies and determined that on a car with a particularly well executed underside,that a front air dam could actually increase the drag.
This sort of thing is going to vary from one car to another.

[suspectnumber961]

I'm giving up on the Airtabs...seems they are not likely to work on a car? Might make my own VGs that would have less wind resistance and possibly some mpg benefit.

* Has anyone tested AC vs windows down?

* Has anyone tested these?

AutoVentshade IN-CHANNEL SIDE WINDOW DEFLECTORS - JCWhitney

My experience with the ZX3 in warm weather is that without AC...you'd want about all the air coming in the windows you could get to make it habitable.

The wind deflectors keep most air OUT of the car ...though with the windows cracked you might see more flow into the vents?

Might be possible to trim...say the lower end of the wind deflector to allow some air flow into the car with the windows all the way down?