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Old 06-14-2015, 12:32 AM   #1 (permalink)
Master of 140 hamsters
 
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Join Date: May 2008
Location: Lacey, WA
Posts: 183

Hamster - '07 Honda Civic EX
90 day: 29.41 mpg (US)

Whooshy Wagon - '04 Volvo V40
90 day: 23.33 mpg (US)

Minotaur - '09 Ford Taurus X SEL
90 day: 19.05 mpg (US)
Thanks: 1
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2009 Ford Taurus X - Aeromods

We are having a baby in the fall and that prompted me to find a more family friendly vehicle. I heard good things about the Ford Flex and it's "man-van" appearance. My wife did not warm up to the idea of a true minivan, and as a landscape contractor the odd tall plant/product sample/ladder/etc. was getting a little troublesome with the Civic. Ford Flexes are still quite pricey, but I found out the that predecessor Taurus X (and the Freestyle before it) are essentially the same vehicle underneath - so the search began.

Long story short, wife liked the car, I liked it too, the price was acceptable for having only 81,000 miles on it - so now we own Minotaur. ("Taste the beast!" ... anyone? anyone? "Role Models"? ah... never mind. )

It's front wheel drive which is unusual since most of them were sold with AWD. Similar setup as in the Volvo XC90 - so it's a decent system. But we were happy with FWD for the FE reasons.

So I finally got around to trying out a mild lawn edging air dam. I followed the recommendations from another forum member (can't think of him now, sorry) but it worked like a charm. The threaded aluminum bar in the edging stiffened it up nicely, and I attached it with self-tapping screws right to the plastic bumper and existing (excuse-of-an-) air dam.

Below are the results of my afternoon tinkering.








Note the temporary electrical tape grille block and foam insers in the upper grille. (Uppermost and lowermost. Leaving the middle two open for now.)




Any comments, suggestions, predictions?

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Last edited by superchow; 06-14-2015 at 01:23 AM..
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Old 06-14-2015, 09:26 AM   #2 (permalink)
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Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Greater Milwaukee area, Wisconsin
Posts: 157

To Be Determined (Too-be) - '15 Chevrolet Malibu LS Eco
90 day: 35.41 mpg (US)
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Not bad. The Freestyle/Taurus X always seemed like a very nice family hauler. How did it do fe wise stock?

As an aside, I can't wait for SUVs to finally get the "soccer mom" stigma that women hate so much about station wagons and minivans.
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Old 06-14-2015, 10:26 AM   #3 (permalink)
Master of 140 hamsters
 
superchow's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Lacey, WA
Posts: 183

Hamster - '07 Honda Civic EX
90 day: 29.41 mpg (US)

Whooshy Wagon - '04 Volvo V40
90 day: 23.33 mpg (US)

Minotaur - '09 Ford Taurus X SEL
90 day: 19.05 mpg (US)
Thanks: 1
Thanked 8 Times in 7 Posts
Keeping in mind that I want hyper miling it to any extreme, with gentle throttle and thinking ahead around town it was getting about 20 mpg and 24-25 on the highway.

It's relatively heavy (4000 lbs) and the engine is quite large (3.5L), but the 6 speed auto and the relatively rounded nose have me hope. Cruising RPM at 60mph is low at 1750 RPM of thereabouts.

The wheel wells are obviously oversized/bulbous, and the hatch may get a kamm back, so I am shooting for 30 mpg highway as a realistic goal.

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