Aerocivic - how to drop your Cd from 0.31 to 0.17

[user removed]

Originally Posted by Chuck.

It's OK to PM me.

I can assure you that the hypermilers at that forum average considerably faster than 22 mph. I understand you disagree, but characterizing their cruise speed as 22 simply is not accurate.

Not the one who berated Basjoos, calling his work insignificant, or Robert, with the (other persons) response that he got 180 MPG in an Insight.

I also challenged the same person to come to VA and show me he could get 120 MPG in my Insight with a CVT on E10.

The offer was $2500 cash if he could do that.

Never heard any acceptance of that offer, and if he can do either 180 in a manual or 120 in a CVT he is averaging 22 MPH or less.

Guess I could borrow one of the universtiy vehicles that get 5-12000 MPG at 16 MPH and call his work insignificant.

Right?

Edit: He also insinuated that I was lying when I posted that I got 80 MPG in my CVT Insight on a 20 mile trip in 31 minutes through 23 traffic lights.

38 MPH average

regards
Mech

[COcyclist]

Originally Posted by Chuck.

It's a shame he's branding hypermiling by echewing streamlining - it's not an either/or.

Think it's clear I'm sympathetic with aero-mods and basjoos' efforts.

I agree and I try do do both. There are times when it is not safe or courteous to drive under the speed limit. however, I would much rather be passed by an efficient car than the jacked up, big tire, big engine monsters that fly by me.

[some_other_dave]

Originally Posted by Old Mechanic

... if he can do either 180 in a manual or 120 in a CVT he is averaging 22 MPH or less.

I think you are making unwarranted assumptions when you make that calculation. For instance, pulse and glide or pulse and coast, combined with shutting the engine down, can reap significant benefits.

I don't know what the "other site" mentioned in this thread is, but I think Basjoos' car is really very cool indeed! I also think that if he didn't drive 70 MPH, he'd get even better fuel economy--but what he's getting now is plenty good!

If the "other site" is the other fuel-economy-related site that I am also on, I am surprised to hear that anyone has been down on Basjoos. From what I've seen there, people are very supportive of what he has done.

The counterpoint is that changing your driving behavior can result in larger FE gains than anything short of Basjoos' work. And is just about free, so the ROI is immense... But both aero mods and driving mods together will be better yet.

-soD

[basjoos]

Yesterday I went on the first road trip since I had the lean burn engine installed in my car last fall. I went from Greenwood, SC to Florence, SC via I-26/I-20. I was traveling at the same speed as the bulk of the traffic, so the rural interstate portions were driven at 75 to 80 mph and the urban portions at 65 to 70mph. Drove the whole way in lean burn except for when climbing the hills. The SuperMId showed 62mpg on the way down with temps ranging from the 30's (scraped frost that morning) to 60 degree F. Got 60mpg on the way back through temps in the 60's with 79mph as the target speed. When I gassed up I got 65.6mpg, but that included about 100 miles of local driving. Not bad for a 19 year old non-hybrid car. I don't know of any new car that could match that mileage at those speeds or any Honda that can easily maintain lean burn at 80mph.

Whenever I go from driving the Aerocivic to driving a normal car, it feels like I'm driving a boat since none of them come anywhere close to coasting as well as the aerocivic. You let out the clutch and cut power on a normal car at highway speed and they immediately start slowing down. You do the same on the aerocivic and it just keeps on going and going with only a very slow decay in speed.

[UFO]

That must be a really cool feeling having such low drag!

[MetroMPG]

Continually impressed, Mike. Way to go.

[3-Wheeler]

Originally Posted by basjoos

....I don't know of any new car that could match that mileage at those speeds or any Honda that can easily maintain lean burn at 80mph....

Very impressive Mike.

I very much appreciated the opportunity to talk at length with you about your AeroCivic in the summer of 2009 at Madison HybridFest. I commend your foresight to modify your car in such as way to not only help the environment, but also pave the way for others to follow.

I think we've also figured out that the AeroCivic engine must also put out more horsepower in lean burn mode than the Insight as well, so this is also a factor.

Jim.

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by Chuck.

The "anti-aero" rhetoric...

I've seen a bit of it myself, and if it's not strictly an attempt at branding, it is a bit puzzling.

Phil (I think) once made an analogy I really liked about aero mods: they're akin to adding more insulation to a house, or fixing an old house that had a poor insulation job to begin with.

You could of course ignore the potential for improvement and choose to stay warm in your poorly insulated house through "technique" alone (jumping jacks in the living room? Long underwear and lots of sweaters?). Or you could put in a bit of work/money to fix the insulation.

And then you have the option of saving additional energy by turning down the thermostat and continuing using technique/jumping jacks ... or you can leave the temperature setting where it was before and enjoy the added warmth with no additional energy used. ...Or some combination of the two.

[Weather Spotter]

Small world, I was in Columbia SC last weekend and drove back to MI on Tuesday.

[Sigurd]

Thanks, I just found this thread. Bookmarked for some light reading later