2006 Civic Coupe Aero Mods

[JacobLeSann]

Aerohead, I understand that dilemma. Even before I had a car, I would be riding one bicycle as I was designing another to replace it at home. The daily bicycle would need repairs and I would put those on the back-burner. Happens with my cars too!

Sorry to hear you have to deal with an annual inspection. Makes me grateful for my provincial laws (for once). As for pouring concrete, tricky this time of year! Gotta play the temps correctly, especially with the drops at night.

Hope it all goes smoothly.

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MetroMPG, that’s neat! I’ve never seen those threads and I’ll have a look right now. 3% improvement is far less than what I expected but it lines up with the notchback mod threads I’ve seen here. I guess being so reserved about the idea of a boat tail has made sense. I figure it’ll be better to tackle every other area of the car until I can figure out something *good* for the rear.

For the grille block, that’s neat. I know my car was fine with a grille block almost the same as yours. Once I added a front undertray, I noticed a tendency to overheat. Since then I’ve added more exhaust cooling and have added onto the OEM ductwork within the wheel wells. Now the car is effectively always at 87 degrees Celsius. Fans kick in at 103 degrees Celsius for me, and I’ve read that hotter temps can damage seals long term. Funny enough, I have replaced the axle shaft seals already.

[JacobLeSann]

This car shall now be named “Bruce”. Just gives me that vibe. It doesn’t look terrible once painted, but the cans I’m using don’t like to be ran right low and it splattered paint all over the top of the wing. Doesn’t matter as it’s a prototype that is (literally) rough around the edges. So far nobody seems to have noticed locally haha. Change of pace for once.

Seems good as before. I added some strengthening using leftover scraps and some more zip ties. Very solid now. Two underbody panels that I had attached to the rear trailing arms were shredded; I tore those off. Cooling is good, car runs nice.

Mileage? Not sure so far. I drive much slower at home, around 70-75 km/h. Sometimes I’m late and it’s 200 km/h. At the lower end of the spectrum, the scan gauge reads 50-55 MPG or so. I will update with tank data when I refill next.

It is dead quiet at 70! No noise. Just wheels. Can barely hear the engine unless you want it, which is nice.

[freebeard]

The paint helps.

[JacobLeSann]

https://youtu.be/ouDkptwDQMs?si=pa5OQiFCoUDyBqr0

Here’s a video summary I’ve made that details the conception and research leading up to this point in the project. I’ll be adding this to the first post in this thread. A bit of a long and boring video but has all the images and footage in a more comprehensive format.

[JacobLeSann]

Well, after hearing about the Spirit of Ecomodder, I’m in a similar boat.

Went on a road trip recently and it was very icy. Was doing great and managing the car well until a cop started following and keeping really close pace beside me. He did it for 15 minutes or so in traffic and I got stressed out. Started slowing down for a red light and noticed he was trailing me closely, then looked forward and realized the parked truck ahead of me. Smack! I got out and started apologizing profusely but it looks like the guy’s ball hitch kept any damage from happening to his truck. I guess at 30 km/h the civic takes all of it. Very nice and understanding person.

Radiator doesn’t seem to be leaking and everything drives alright, but the front bumper rail is bent up and the bumper cover is toast. No overheating. I suppose it’s good that I used scrap parts to put it all together.

Thankfully, I have the exact same car at home. Works out okay.

P.S: On said trip, the car managed to go 710km on one tank, through snow, rain, ice and wind. Was pretty happy with that. I need to be more careful.

[freebeard]

Took about 20 minutes to get another car?

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by JacobLeSann

Aerohead, I understand that dilemma. Even before I had a car, I would be riding one bicycle as I was designing another to replace it at home. The daily bicycle would need repairs and I would put those on the back-burner. Happens with my cars too!

Sorry to hear you have to deal with an annual inspection. Makes me grateful for my provincial laws (for once). As for pouring concrete, tricky this time of year! Gotta play the temps correctly, especially with the drops at night.

Hope it all goes smoothly.

————————————————-

MetroMPG, that’s neat! I’ve never seen those threads and I’ll have a look right now. 3% improvement is far less than what I expected but it lines up with the notchback mod threads I’ve seen here. I guess being so reserved about the idea of a boat tail has made sense. I figure it’ll be better to tackle every other area of the car until I can figure out something *good* for the rear.

For the grille block, that’s neat. I know my car was fine with a grille block almost the same as yours. Once I added a front undertray, I noticed a tendency to overheat. Since then I’ve added more exhaust cooling and have added onto the OEM ductwork within the wheel wells. Now the car is effectively always at 87 degrees Celsius. Fans kick in at 103 degrees Celsius for me, and I’ve read that hotter temps can damage seals long term. Funny enough, I have replaced the axle shaft seals already.

For what it's worth, Tadge Juechter ( sp ? ) chief engineer on Chevrolet Division's Corvette programs told the press that they allowed for 239-F coolant, 284-F engine oil, and 284-F transaxle fluid. That would be for a full-synthetic lube package.

[JacobLeSann]

freebeard, hah! I wish. I’ve had a 2008 Coupe I bought for wheels/tires. Strange guy sold it to me and I realize it may not have been his. Thankfully everything is in good condition, just a hacked off catalytic converter and no keys. Was dirt cheap.

aerohead, I’ve noticed chevy’s racing divisions recommend similar heats. I wonder why. Wouldn’t less be better for a racing car?

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by JacobLeSann

freebeard, hah! I wish. I’ve had a 2008 Coupe I bought for wheels/tires. Strange guy sold it to me and I realize it may not have been his. Thankfully everything is in good condition, just a hacked off catalytic converter and no keys. Was dirt cheap.

aerohead, I’ve noticed chevy’s racing divisions recommend similar heats. I wonder why. Wouldn’t less be better for a racing car?

In engineering, and from thermodynamics, the highest thermal efficiencies for heat engines are achieved with the greatest delta- T between the upper operating temp, and the 'sink' temperature.
In automotive engines, the highest operating temperatures are constrained by thermo-chemical disassociation of the hydrocarbons used to lubricate the reciprocating components, and by the thermal expansion coefficients and metallurgical operating limits of components exposed to the heat of combustion, along with all the dynamic forces, loads, stresses, strain, jerk, etc..
You take everything you can right to the 'limit.'
You get the lowest pumping losses ( parasitic losses ), and extract the greatest amount of useful work for a given heat input.