3rd gen Prius aeromod thread

[Daox]

Perhaps wire a button in parallel to another location?

[redpoint5]

Would be cool to repurpose the panic button on the fob to trigger the hatch. It would "kill 2 stones with 1 bird" as my Korean friend says. Those panic buttons really need to go away.

[Xist]

My mother has never needed her panic button, but my autistic brother uses it regularly.

He is a stinker.

[Vman455]

I'm almost ready to start shaping the foam blocks into a nice, streamlined shape with the surform and sanding block. To make it more durable and easier to install, I glued 1/4" plywood board with carriage bolts sunk in to the bottom board:



Now I can install or remove it with access to only one side.

I've been building up the shape with more foam board:



I've glued a little more on the sides tonight, and hopefully this weekend I'll get the top board on. Fiberglass arrives tomorrow; once I get it shaped, I'll glass the whole outside, then cut the hatch lid, then do the inside.

[Daox]

Shaping up nicely!

[aerohead]

A diamond in the rough!

[Vman455]

Starting to rough in the shape with saws:



Tail lights and license plate lights arrived this week, and I've figured out how I'm going to mount them. I'll add another 3/4" panel to the back with cutouts for the lights, and drill holes for the wires in the 2" bulkhead.

[Vman455]

Since I haven't had much time to work on the tail, and with a 1000-mile trip to Connecticut this weekend (where I'm writing this, in view of Rhode Island), I decided to fabricate a temporary tail on a whim Friday night out of coroplast:



The trip today netted 61.0 mpg on the display, at 70 mph on cruise control. Not bad for something thrown together at the last minute, and with all those sharp angles.

[elhigh]

Anything new to report on this? I recently got one of these things and am less than thrilled with hypermiling efforts, looks like I'm going to have to ecomod the stuffing out of it if I want to beat the EPA.

[gasstingy]

I have a 2010 model and can beat EPA by simply keeping the tires at 44 psi and driving gently. When I'm not being followed too closely, after the engine is warmed up, if I'm going 40 or less I can run for quite a way on the battery pack. Obviously, I keep it in ECO. I actually filled the tank this morning after 350.9 miles on 6.3 gallons of gas.

Side note, my wife did not drive it at all on this tankful, or this would not have happened, as I have to pay close attention to get this result. My wife thinks I obsess too much, but I find it entertaining on my otherwise boring commute.