96 Saturn SL1

[Blacktree]

First of all, thank you to 96SATSL for starting this thread. This information will be helpful to many Saturn owners, including myself.

Second of all, it's been awhile since your last post. How are those aero mods holding up? Any new MPG figures?

Thanks again for sharing.

[96SATSL]

Everything is going well, no issues with aero mods. Everything is holding up and performing very good. I can conclusively say that I am getting 48-51mpg consistently. Not bad for a 96 saturn. I made is to San Fransisco from Los Angeles in a tank and a 1/4. Amazing!!!!

[theycallmeebryan]

I followed your idea and weather stripped all the gaps on my car. Now that the hood gaps are closed, the engine warms up faster; I suppose because no (or much less) cool air is getting in from above.

I really like the belly pan you made. How did you attach it to the underside of the car?

A while back you were talking about installing a rear spoiler. Any progress on that?

I've been averaging 44-48mpg in the cold winter months in NY. Damn the cold!

[ProDarwin]

A few questions:

-Are you using E10, 100% gas, or some other blend?
-As asked above, how did you attach the belly pan/rear diffuser? Some pics detailing this would be quite helpful.

All this eco-modding talk makes me want to build one of the spare motors I have laying around.

[96SATSL]

The underbelly pan is comprised of 3 main parts. Under the hood to about the firewall, from firewall back till the end of the tank and the trunk is the final yet most crucial part. Over all the bottom of the Saturn is pretty flat, so the biggest gain would come from the rear part. To attach the front one I used 4 main bolts. Two at the from just behind the factory air dam and two utilizing wholes in the engine cradle. For the center part I took L shaped alum extrusion and have it running cross car in the front to meet the front pan, and in the rear where the tank is. ( also cross car) The Coroplast is attached to that. Pretty rigid. The rat was easy. Ran the same cross car alum extrusion from the left side of the rear bumper to the right. It sits between the wheel liner and the bumper. Utilizes same same mounting whole for the wheel liners at the bottom. Finally and support in the middle so it doesn't sag. Mount Coroplast and you're done!

Didn't take pics during the build was to anxious to get it done... will do a quick illustration.

-Alex

[96SATSL]

Reg gas by the way.

Rear spoiler, not gonna do. It will get int the way of my bike rack. Not too much improvement anyway.

Images:Hope it helps a bit

[California98Civic]

Originally Posted by 96SATSL

Everything is going well, no issues with aero mods. Everything is holding up and performing very good. I can conclusively say that I am getting 48-51mpg consistently. Not bad for a 96 saturn. I made is to San Fransisco from Los Angeles in a tank and a 1/4. Amazing!!!!

One remarkable thing about this thread is your skill with the mods and the speed you are pulling them together. I don't doubt it's really useful for other Saturn owners. It's useful to me. Thanks again. A question for me and for other noobs or relative novices: Do you have a sense of how much of your FE gain is due to the mods and how much is due to your driving changes. From what I see in your mods, I would guess wildly that anywhere from a third to two thirds of the FE gain is from driving style mods.

[CigaR007]

I am interested in the rear diffuser you built. Where did the inspiration come from regarding the design ? I have been pondering making one of my own and I was looking at the stock rear diffuser on the Nissan Leaf as a design-base.


Nissan Leaf stock rear diffuser







From what I understand, the efficiency of the rear diffuser is dependent on the air flow preceding it, hence the recommendation for smooth panels underneath the car; which you did !

[96SATSL]

Originally Posted by California98Civic

Do you have a sense of how much of your FE gain is due to the mods and how much is due to your driving changes. From what I see in your mods, I would guess wildly that anywhere from a third to two thirds of the FE gain is from driving style mods.

When I first got the car, I was pretty easy on it and operated with a mid form of hypermiling, mainly due to the conditions I had to drive in. Even then I was getting roughly 41MPG. I think you are spot on with your estimate; I'd say at least 1/3 is due to driving style for sure. All the aero mods help me capitalize on the driving style. In some ways they work in unison. If I had every mod on the car and drove like the STIG, you can bet your a## I would be nowhere near 50+MPG.

I can hypothesize all day about exact numbers, but the reality of it is that the driving style was utilized first. After that I did the mods. So any changes that appeared were working in unison with the driving style.

-Alex

[96SATSL]

Originally Posted by CigaR007

I am interested in the rear diffuser you built. Where did the inspiration come from regarding the design ? I have been pondering making one of my own and I was looking at the stock rear diffuser on the Nissan Leaf as a design-base.

From what I understand, the efficiency of the rear diffuser is dependent on the air flow preceding it, hence the recommendation for smooth panels underneath the car; which you did !

I drove a leaf for a week and a half, that my job let me borrow. Its a cool little car. I did that to try to get some more "insight" (no pun intended) into whats going on with that car.

From my use of the diffuser, I did not notice anything negotiable as far as FE. Thus is it off right now. The biggest advantage came from the belly pan. Without proper testing (wind tunnel) I have no idea how effective the diffuser was. I drove for a few days with it on my standard commute and noticed nothing... so it came off. I will only live with a mod if it shows some benefits. Also just like how the Racing disks are off today. For roughly 1mpg its not worth the weird stares. lol ;D (A car w steel wheels and hubcaps usually has cleaner airflow over the wheel openings as compared to one with 19" rims)

Ohh by the way, it was inspired by the one built on this site for a Mini Cooper S i believe. sooo easy to make.

-Alex ( my San Fran trip averaged 51MPG to and from.)