5 Basic Aeromods: A-B-A Test Results
 

Hi All--

I just ran an A-B-A test on 5 basic aeromods. These are mods that pretty much anyone can do. The full test description is below. But here is the bottom line: by increasing tire pressure to 44F/42R, removing passenger mirror, adding full lower grill block, adding partial upper grill block, and adding coroplast wheel covers, I saw an increase of 2.65MPG (or 7.74%). I'll be away for a couple of weeks, so won't have any tank-fill data for a while, but will post results when I get them and info on how I did these aeromods at that time. Hopeful these basic aeromods will take me over the 40MPG/tank line!

Car: 2004 Accord, 2.4L, 4-cyl, A/T. No mods to start. Tire Pressure 32F/30R as per badge. Tank 3/4 full.

Course: 4.7 miles of divided highway. 3-4 low hills and some level ground. North (end) slightly higher elevation than South (start). Start and end marks were highway signs visible from both sides. No traffic.

Test Procedure: Drive to course: about 15 miles. Engine at normal temperature. Not sure if transmission was up to temperature at start of runs. For each run, accelerate to 60MPH (check with GPS), set Cruise Control, hit reset on SGII at start point. Observe/record MPG from SGII at end point.

Conditions: 6:30am start. Temperature 72 degrees. Foggy (and dark). 8:45am end time. Temperature 75 degrees. Partly sunny. No traffic.

(A) Runs. No Aeromods (1: S-N, 2: N-S, 3&4 Repeat):
Avg: 32.37MPG

(B) Aeromods: After 4 (A) runs, added the modifications (lower grill block, partial upper grill block, passenger mirror delete, wheel covers.) and inflated tires to 44F/42R. Took about 45 minutes. Did this work at a filling station a couple miles south of the start point.

(B) Runs. (5, 6,7,8)
Avg: 35.57MPG

(A') Removed aeromods and re-set tires to 32/30.

(A') Runs: (9,10,11,12)
Avg: 33.47MPG [Note: (A') runs were about 1.1MPG higher than (A) runs.]

Average of all (A) and (A') runs: 32.925MPG
Average of all (B) runs: 35.575MPG
Difference: 2.65MPG (7.74%)

Individual Runs:

1: A S-N: 30.6
2: A N-S: 34.1
3: A S-N: 30.8
4: A N-S: 34.0
5: B S-N: 33.3
6: B N-S: 36.7
7: B S-N: 34.5
8: B N-S: 37.8
9: A' S-N: 32.4
10: A' N-S: 34.6
11: A' S-N: 31.8
12: A' N-S: 35.1

:thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:
You nailed it!!!
Nice job!!!

Three mandatory items for a-b-a testing:
1 gps to get the miles right and calibrate the sgII
2 calibrated scangauge
3 cruise control

Excellent job on the A-B-A testing.

I count 4 aeromods and one regular mod. :)

I'd like to post this on the front page. Any chance you can snap a few pictures of the mods? (Yeah, the old timers all know what this stuff looks like, but it's informative for the noobs & browsers).

Nice test - thanks for posting!

Still a noob :)
 

Right! Only 4 aero mods, you are right! I hadn't thought of it that way, but I'm still a noob myself :D

It would be an honor to be on the front page, but photos will have to wait a week or two. They are on a camera I can't get to right now. But when I'm back I intend to put up a thread with the photos. So up to you if you want to move this now or wait a couple of weeks for the photos.

Thanks for the thumbs up!

A week or 2 is fine - reply in this thread when you've got 'em (I'll get auto-notified).

I'm planning to do a similar set of mods to my '07 Civic. Although my test won't be as thorough as yours! (A-B only, done on different days).

Yeah, Holy Cow A-B-A testing is time-consuming. I spent a lot of time picking the course, going through the procedure carefully, prepping the mods so I could quickly install and de-install them, and practicing. I didn't want to have gotten up at 6:30 on a Sunday morning and then screw it up somehow! Will post pictures as soon as I can.

I definitely appreciate how much time it takes! It's worth it though.

Summary of the basic aeromods: 1) Mirror Delete
 

So, I'm back from a trip and am posting up a few photos of the aeromods that I installed for my A-B-A test. As MetroMPG notes, there are really only 4 aeromods here...the fifth mod was increasing tire pressure-- so no photos on that one.

The next 3 posts show what I did.

In general, I'm trying not to do to anything that I can't undo easily, so that's my basic approach.

1: Passenger Mirror:
I used a method another ecomodder used (can't find his handle, if someone recognizes this method, I'd like to be able to cite his work). This method is to cut and fit aluminum over the rubber gasket. With this method the original mirror can easily be re-installed.

The last photo is shown after it was painted and installed during my A-B-A test. I noticed a little wind noise at highway speed and I also noticed that when I ran the car through a car wash (with the inside trim piece still OFF), that some water comes through, so I'll be adding some sealer/calking around the edge to dal with those issues.

I may go ahead and use the same method on the driver's side mirror (and add an interior convex mirror to be in compliance with NC statutes).

Summary of the basic aeromods: 2) Wheel covers
 

I spent a LOT of time reading up on ways of adding wheel covers to alloy wheels. A LOT of time. There are a lot of ingenious things folks are doing, but it seemed like most involved the use of equipment (e.g. drill presses) and skillz I don't have. I bought pizza pans. I noodled around with various ways of attaching them, etc. But I wasn't comfortable with pizza pans attached only with zipties.

So, I went with the default of coroplast and zipties. Simple solution, cheap, and easy to undo.

However, since they are butt ugly, I have two thoughts on improving the look. One is to paint them a metallic alloy color (which I've done, but don't have a photo yet). That is helping to tone down the stark white/black contrast.

The second idea I had is to take a high rez picture of the original wheels and take it to a sign shop and have them print four full-size versions on adhesive sign material and stick them onto the coroplast. So you'd basically have a picture of the original wheel on top of the coroplast. Might be too expensive and might look sh*tty, too, but I'm going to investigate.

Anyway, here's what the wheel covers look like as tested.

Summary of basic aeromods: 3) and 4) Grill blocks
 

The lower grill block was made from coroplast with a slotted opening and cover that I could raise and lower. I don't think I'm going to have an overheating problem (haven't fully tested yet, tho), but I thought I would go ahead and add the sliding cover while doing the original build, just in case I need it later.

I made the slotted 'window' track by epoxying some additional pieces of aluminum.

The upper grill block, alas, is just clear tape. Not happy with that from a design point of view, but it is easy to remove and I can do something a bit more elegant some time in the future. For the A-B-A test, I only had tape over half of the upper grill since on a test run, with both lower and upper grill completely covered, engine temp went up to 220 pretty quickly. With only half the upper grill covered, temp was around 205 (normal temp is around 186).

The last image shows both grill blocks 'installed' (I hesitate using 'installed' when referring to tape). The lower one has been painted black, obviously. It was attached to the car with black zipties. Seems pretty secure.

What about cutting a piece of paper to fit your wheel and using a sideways crayon to trace the rims? You could transfer that to something sturdy and use it as a pattern to paint your covers.

Spirals. Definitely spirals.

Extra points if they spin in on both sides.

Tracing
 

That's a good idea, too. Thanks for the suggestion.

Not sure I'll do anything at this point. They actually look OK painted now. And anyway, YKYAEM if you don't care what your wheel covers look like, right?:)

Spirals
 

Hah! I guess I should think about something more exuberant, shouldn't I?

Thanks for the photos! Added this to the "selected threads" on the home page.

Nice on the mirror delete! Thanks for sharing that.

A-B-A Testing vs. Real World Results
 

Ecomodders: so I've had three full tanks since I did the four mods and increased tire pressure. Not a big sample, but enough for an update.

A-B-A testing showed an increase of 2.65MPG (7.74%) due to the mods.

In the real world, the difference I'm getting is even better.

My five tanks prior to the mods gave me an average of 34.84MPG. Then I had one tank that had some before and some after miles on it, so I'm discarding that tank as not being truly before or truly after.

With the three full, complete tanks since doing the mods, I get an average of 38.18MPG.

So my real world improvement is 3.34MPG (9.15%).

Could be due to some improvements in my technique on one hand. But on the other hand the last three tanks (post-mods) have been during cooler weather than the prior five tanks (pre mods). Also, pump error, etc., blah,blah, the normal disclaimers.

Overall, I'm pretty confident that the A-B-A testing is born out under real world conditions.

Accord-Minded

Thank you greatly, subscribed (to look back later when I will be able to apply them to my new (1998:D) Odyssey.

-Benphyr

Loved the A-B-A tests, thanks for doing that and sharing!

Saw the list of 3 things needed for that on by the second poster; I do have a GPS; I can't install a Scanguage :( (92 Metro lacks the needed connection); and no cruise control (though I'd just about kill to have it on my 38 mi commute).

I have the mentioned 1992 Ge Metro (1.0, 5 spd) and I did a similar RH mirror delete a few years ago. Step one: Back out of the garage and clip off the mirror on the side of the house. Check! Step two: make an aluminum panel to cover the base area, seal it in place with B 1/2 sealant; then paint it flat black. :)

I tried a lower grill block, as well as plexi light covers, and I was going to make some rear wheel skirts. But...... then I hit a deer, and all thoughts of perfect little aero mods went out the window. Straightened the hood and such as best I could, and kept driving.

The little thing still returns 52 mpg + with no effort though. so that's good.