96 Saturn SL1

[California98Civic]

How about access to the tire air-pressure valves? Cut small holes? WOuld be easier than removing the covers, no? Or can you just pop these covers off? You could pain the covers too, maybe on the inside.

[96SATSL]

These are on a spare set of hubcaps. Remove easy for checking pressures. Id probably just pull them off like you said. I was thinking about painting them on the inside, but the idea for the clear ones was to have the car look stock. I am still yet to decide on the final ones. Clear, alluminum, or black no idea yet.

-Alex

[96SATSL]

Also spoke with a pro (aero engineer at Volvo) on the setup... gave me some advice:

His advice:
*Removing antenna is waste
*Wheel covers
*Add trunk extension lip min 2-3 inches
*lower car (resisting doing that tho)
*for wipers he said only bad part of wipers is the pass side wiper, use shorter one or cut
oem one. The cowl he says is pretty do dont bother removing them.
*Partial wheelwell skirts
*Grill block
*Biggest advice underbelly pan

Man I am gonna be busy!!!

-Alex

[cfg83]

96SATSL -

Originally Posted by 96SATSL

They do not touch the tire, maybe 1/8"-1/4" away from it. The Pizza pans are the same. I had that fear too but the center of the hubcap was more convex which helped perfectly line them up to avoid the tire.

...

Fantastic! I have had brake dust from the front disk brake pads collect on the inside of my pizza pans. If that happens to you then that will compromise your OEM look. However, the small gap may cause it to be whisked away. If it does collect, you can get a brake dust shield or just black-tape the holes in the Walmart hubcaps.

Another thing to keep in mind is that you probably can't run those through an automated car wash. I did that many years ago with snap-in racing disks that were also convex and it ruined the front-driver one that was "grabbed" by the thingy that pulls the car along.

CarloSW2

[96SATSL]

Got the wheel covers on tonight, couldn't decide which ones to use ( clear or allum) so I did both. Driverside is clear and pass is allum pans. Will post pics in the morning after my drive to work. Hope to see some gains. Only needs 0.6mpg to hit my best trip MPG of 60MPG.

Also did a partial grill block. Upper grill opening is closed in; looks oem!
And went thru all the shutlines on the car and sealed them too. That was part of the advice by my aero co-worker. Will see how she runs, if shes running warm I will remove grill block if not, the lower grill block is going on too.

Not a bad night for mods: grill block, gaskets on all shut lines (front fenders all the way back to the upper shutline of the truck), and wheel covers. Check those off the list.

-Alex

[96SATSL]

How it's Made:

Grill block, as it has been done by other here so I will make it short. Basically its a 2 3/4" x 6' pipe insulation tube bought for $2.39 at Osh hardware supply. I measure it to size and trimmed the angles away so it lays into the opening of the grill perfectly.

Closer view of the section

Upper Grill block installed. Literally just pushes in snug tight. No need to mount etc. and the 6 ft piece was enough to do both upper and lower grill slot. I an just holding off to see how it effects running temps.



Testing wheel cover on front (clear one)






On the passenger side I did the aluminum covers mounted the same way.
I did however add 4 rubber contact points to minimize chatter should they make noice.

Ready to go on:

Tada:


Will put up some better pics tomorrow morning.

-Alex

[euromodder]

Hard to see wether the clear one is there at all - if you keep the insides clear [pun intended ] of brake dust.

[96SATSL]

So yeilded 2mpg for the upper grill block, gasket shutlines and wheel covers.

Here are some pics:


Upper grill block:


Door gaps and truck lid:



Alex

New Tank average of 56 MPG

Gotta break 60 before im happy.

[theycallmeebryan]

Great work!

I have a 99 SL1 5spd (grey bumpers!), so pretty much the same car as you.

I've been averaging between 48-52 mpg with just a front grille block, 60psi in the tires, and driving technique using a vacuum gauge.

I really like your mods. Very clean and well thought out. Your grille block is a hell of a lot cleaner than mine. Great idea for using copper pipe insulation. I'm just using clear window sealing tape on the bumper and it seems to work well, although not as visually appealing.

I'm most interested in your body panel degapping. I'm sick of the huge gaps between all the panels on my car. What exactly did you use to do that? I was planning on just using silicone out of a tube to seal up all the gaps.

BTW: I've also been thinking about a trunk lid extension using chloroplast. I'm interested in seeing what you come up with. You seem to have the technical know how and tools at your disposal to pull off a clean installation.

You mention that your normal commute is 80%highway/20%city with speeds of 65-75mph on the highway. Your FE seems pretty high for sustaining those speeds on the highway. Do you pulse and glide at all? Any Engine off Coasting?

[tru]

Originally Posted by 96SATSL

I spend about an hour making the clear covers thru a vac forming method. I vac formed over the 16" pizza pans. I will show the process bellow.




Pretty clean? Will record any results ASAP. They run to the edge of the hubcap on the stock ones too and might ever try them on the OEM ones. This way my pizza pans also stayed in tact. Have both sets now.

Any thoughts?

-Alex

if you were to "seal" the hubcap interior that would reduce or eliminate the brake dust intrusion.