3rd gen Prius aeromod thread

[WilliamYH09]

Good looking mods, Vman455! Interested to see how your interior mirrors turn out and how well they work. I'm still trying to figure out exactly what I want to do with my mirrors.

[Daox]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

Ooo! A tail treatment? Excellent. I have the impression that Prius owners seem to be afraid of doing that. (Cough, cough Daox cough.)

Haha, I've wanted to do one for a while. Alas, time is never in full abundance it seems.

[Vman455]

After church today, a casual acquaintance noticed my smooth wheel covers and commented on them. When I told her they were just pizza pans from Walmart and reduced the drag of the car by a couple of percentage points, she asked if I was joking. I had to explain that, yes, I was serious and every little bit of drag reduction helps, and that my current tank is sitting at 60mpg average on the Scangauge. That seemed to make an impression.

[Cobb]

Any numbers on mpg improvements? Any photos of the inside of the replacements?

I didnt think the mirrors on the gen 2 were that big. The insight has big honking mirrors and it wasnt til I removed the passenger side that I exceeded 3 digit fuel economy. I just removed it and had no problems. Law says need a passenger side if windows are tinted.

Originally Posted by Vman455

I have both mirrors off now, and painted the wheel covers with Rustoleum primer and wheel paint this weekend:

[TexasCotton]

I can see a couple of mods to do like
.....:go all LED exterior and interior on vehicle
.....:go with a straight exhaust muffler aka thrush straight thru
.....aero the bottom or under body of vehicle aka check what other eco posters like echo trol have done
good luck

[gasstingy]

I've been using the same pipe insulation grille block all winter on my 2010. Mine kept popping loose at the ends {they are nearly full width, even though the grille openings are not}, so I used zip ties to hold them in place. When the weather has been really warm, I've opened the zip ties back up so I could remove a strip and run with three. I was too lazy to do any a-b-a testing, but I've had some of my best mileage figures this way.

Of course, when I took it in for the recall reflash of some inverter, I removed all three strips.

Care to share more details on the rear wiper delete mod. It looks so clean, almost as if it were never there.

[Vman455]

Originally Posted by TexasCotton

I can see a couple of mods to do like
.....:go all LED exterior and interior on vehicle

Already done!

.....aero the bottom or under body of vehicle aka check what other eco posters like echo trol have done
good luck

The Prius already has plastic paneling covering most of the underbody; there's just a center tunnel that's open where the exhaust runs. I'm thinking about slapping a couple coroplast panels on there--it wouldn't take much.

.....:go with a straight exhaust muffler aka thrush straight thru

My old car had a straight-through aftermarket exhaust on it when I bought it; I put up with it for a few years and then replaced it with stock. Until someone can point to credible evidence that a straight-through design will increase fuel economy, I'll stick with stock and enjoy my quiet car

Originally Posted by gasstingy

Care to share more details on the rear wiper delete mod. It looks so clean, almost as if it were never there.

There's a pretty good write-up on Priuschat here. I used a nylon plug so I didn't have to paint it; I'll have to go measure to see what size it was.

[Istas]

Good job on your progress, it's looking great! I'd caution against coroplast to cover over the exhaust though, due to potential melting. Galvanized roof flashing is pretty easy to work with, my material of choice.

[Jethro]

Originally Posted by Vman455

I gotta say, this is a might fine look Prius!
I look forward to a clean grill block on it.

[SwamiSalami]

kickin' some ass, aintcha?