3rd gen Prius aeromod thread
 

I bought a Prius at the beginning of February, and after a month and a half have finally gotten around to some aeromodding. Last weekend, I swapped the stock springs for Tein H-Tech, and this weekend I've installed some smooth wheel covers:

http://i1047.photobucket.com/albums/...ps2b36c61c.jpg

I pulled the moon caps from the Civic before it got hauled off, and was disappointed to find they didn't fit the Prius' aluminum wheels (even though they're designed to use wheelcovers). So I had to go the pizza pan route, which didn't turn out too badly after all.

The patients ready for surgery:

http://i1047.photobucket.com/albums/...ps4f4d04b4.jpg

http://i1047.photobucket.com/albums/...ps3d79c104.jpg

I ended up having to redo them and move the bolts toward the rim another 1 1/2" to sit between the split spokes. Oops!

Less wheel gap than factory (Tein says it's around a 1.4" drop):

http://i1047.photobucket.com/albums/...pse9eedf9e.jpg

I also removed the rear windshield wiper while I was at it; I don't want anything disrupting the airflow over the back of the car (which is why that antenna will be going away too):

http://i1047.photobucket.com/albums/...psf689dc3c.jpg

And lastly, for now, a temporary grill block:

http://i1047.photobucket.com/albums/...ps92613c3c.jpg

http://i1047.photobucket.com/albums/...psbf5468ff.jpg

I'll update this thread as I get more done.

The car should come with those wheel covers from the factory. It looks beautiful.

What was the mpg change from lowering, wheel covers and wiper removal?

If possible you should put 2 of the wire springs on each hudcap. They'll stay on better. Is the upper grill open at all on the Gen 3? I'd block it off and part of the lower grill.

Wheelcovers look surprisingly good! Consider me subscribed.

Any other aero plans?

You need to call the pizza pan manufacturer and see if they will honor thier 3 year warranty if you used them as mooncaps.

Where did you get those pans?

Looks like the brand they sell at the dollar store. :eek:

Yes, but the inverter radiator is behind there. I need to setup an X-gauge to monitor inverter temperature before I block those.

Oh yes--next up is getting rid of those giant mirrors.

I'm guilty of patronizing Mal-Wart....

Wally-world to the rescue (ha,ha)?

Global = Chinese pizza-pans, on a Japanese vehicle, in USA.

Nice mods!

I haven't had any issues with inverter temps. I run a full grill block in winter and still would like more/faster heat in the car. In summer pull one of those pipe insulation pieces out and you'll be good. Thats what I have been doing.

At the same time, I've never been able to find x-gauges for the inverter temp. So, I've never been able to monitor it. I just haven't had any issues over the years.

Nice :)

Looking forward to see where this thread goes. All that work to make an efficient car, and yet there is more that can be done!

Actually those pizza pans are one of the few things that are made in USA.
I understand they do rust though. I sprayed mine with Rustoleum "Hammered" silver paint. Had them on since October and they still look good with no rust.

I'm fairly sure the pans are aluminum.

The Walmart pans are not aluminum. Mine rusted and I cleaned and painted them. They are made in the USA. Would you want to cook on bare aluminum and eat that food? Most of the (if not all) aluminum cookware has a non slip coating. I guess it would be OK if your doctor wanted you to ingest aluminum oxide.

regards
Mech

If they rust, maybe I'll paint them blue to match the emblems.

Do you miss Little Red?

Looks like the Prius still has a little catching up to do. I presume that won't be a problem as you learn how to drive it and make more mods.

It was a bit poignant seeing the Civic go. Even the last picture I took, in the towing yard, looks forlorn:

http://i1047.photobucket.com/albums/...ps1ee0c2d5.jpg

From that angle, you can't even see that the trunk was pushed into the passenger compartment.

The Prius' fuel log isn't helped by the fact that two weeks after I bought it, I took it on a 2000-mile business trip that necessitated some, uh, spirited driving if we were going to get home at a decent hour. In my normal commute, it's been returning better mileage than the Civic at comparable temperatures/time of year. And that was before any aeromods!

The lovely thing about the Prius is that its so stinkin easy to drive and get good mileage. I could P&G the heck out of my Paseo, and get better than Prius mileage, but it was work.

Just throwing out the labels, and happened to noticed they're printed "Made in USA"(!). Who'da thunk it?

So, what do the numbers say? How much MPG improvement?

So far, this tank is sitting at 57.2mpg on the display, a few miles higher than the last two tanks. This is still with relatively cool temperatures and high winds the last few days. Once things calm down, I'll have to do some A-B-A testing to get an accurate number on the pans.

Aaaand...one mirror down, one to go:

http://i1047.photobucket.com/albums/...psb4965cd0.jpg

http://i1047.photobucket.com/albums/...ps65dceb42.jpg

http://i1047.photobucket.com/albums/...psd65eaee8.jpg

Interior-mounted convex replacements? Camera?

Picked up some convex blind-spot mirrors at Autozone today, but I still need to mount them which is why I've only done the one side.

The rear-viewing backup display is "fisheye" but works well...although I need to 'calibrate' what I think I'm seeing with what I'm really seeing...ie: curb distance.

I hope that you can pass your state's safety inspection (if any?) without the stock mirrors. Here in Massachusetts, I have to re-attach my stock optical mirrors in place of my video mirrors to get my safety inspection okayed.

Illinois code only requires the interior mirror unless the rear window is tinted.

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

http://i1047.photobucket.com/albums/...ps2f7b6fd1.jpg

http://i1047.photobucket.com/albums/...ps2002d841.jpg

I'm starting to think about tail design now, possibly using a hitch-mounted cargo tray as a base. Harbor Freight has one on sale for $49 right now.

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

Other than this guy, who posted the tail for sale and then failed to answer replies and PM's:

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...mpg-24999.html

So is your MPG going up? I'd think with dual mirror delete and smooth wheels, that would be detectable.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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. :p

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

Already done!

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.


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:thumbup:

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.

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.

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

kickin' some ass, aintcha?