Aeromodding my 2003 "Classic" NHW11 Prius.
 

If you didn't get the memo, I recently revived a 2003 Toyota Prius NHW11 with 168000Km and a toast transaxle. Link in my signature.


Now it's time to start the Aeromods. The season is all wrong but when spring rolls around, I'll be ready to go! I'm happier working in the shop in the winter anyway.

My wish list of mods (I've been a good ecomodder, Santa) is as follows:
1) Grille block. Done
2) Basjoos headlights and hood. Done
3) Smooth wheel covers. Done
4) Front undertray. Done
5) Full undertray.
5) Plexiglas "double rear window".
6) Wheel boattails.
7) A-pillar tape VGs. Done
8) Rear wheel skirts.
9) Front chin air dam. Done
10) "Side Kilts" Done
11) Side trailing edge lips.

I think that about covers it.

Obviously this will be a while in the making but I'm pretty motivated.

I have already started on the first three so I will copy some posts to save time...

Uber-moonie sneak preview...

http://ecomodder.com/forum/member-or...8-p1010206.jpg

http://ecomodder.com/forum/member-or...9-p1010209.jpg

They are just Ikea candle platters. Heh. Ikea hack. They are 18" and heavier gauge than the $60 stainless pop on's that I have on the van. I will post mount them with 3 or 4 flat head socket screws tapped into the alloys through thick wall tube. They will need a bit of standoff so they don't rub on the rubber during cornering.

I like that they look like I'm running wide 45's on 18" rims but I'm really on 175-65-14s. they also have a smoother transition than moonies because they cover the part of the tire that curves back into the rim.

First one done. I changed my mounting system slightly from my first idea to save weight and complexity. These are mounted with 1/4-20 NC cap head socket screws. I will relpace with stainless once I pick some up.

I carefully laid out the discs and drilled 4 3/16 pilot holes. I then used the disc as a template to mark the aluminum rim. I measured the offset and calculated the depth of hole required to drill and tap. Drilled the pilot holes with a special drill attachment to stay square. Used the same attachment to tap first with a spiral tap, then with a bottoming tap. Then I drilled the pilot holes on the discs to 1/4", popped in the screws and backed them up, slightly loose, with 2 nuts tightened to each other to keep the disc tight but allow the screws to be aligned and tightened into the rim.

Seems to work well. The gap will be adjusted on the next ones, a bit tighter to the wheel. I calculated about a 2.5mm gap will keep the sidewall free of the discs for most tire deflections. I can always cut the rims to a smaller diameter later if there are problems with this set up.

http://ecomodder.com/forum/member-or...3-p1010238.jpg

http://ecomodder.com/forum/member-or...2-p1010237.jpg

http://ecomodder.com/forum/member-or...4-p1010243.jpg

Oh HELL YEAH !
That looks worlds better than stock !
Looking at your car from a stylistic viewpoint, the stock wheels look ridiculously small compared to the rest of the car.
The end result is that the car looks like it has 'chicken legs' and has a puny,weak stance. ( And that's why muscle cars look like they have a powerful 'pouncing' stance. )

You not only cured the problem, but made the car look like what I grew up wishing cars of the future would look like.

Well done.
I'd like to copy you on this idea.

Ooooh. She's such a tease ! :p

Forget the skirts, that looks too awesome to not do in the back too.

I'd do the wheel covers and the skirts. Dunno why, I just would.

Those covers are eco-pimpin. How much are they for 4?

$14.99 each. They are 18". There are also 12" versions for the little wheeled crowd at about $8 each.

You can't be squeamish about drilling your rims though. If mine were nicer, I probably would have gone for the real moonies which need only tiny holes right at the rim edge but mine were well scratched from the previous owner's interesting parking procedures.

You could probably mount these on steelies too, just with the screws closer to the centre.

Little mo' 'spensive than I's thinkin', but I'll be checkin' 'round fer other options as well.

Had some time to work on the aero mods.

Second wheel disc installed. Now with stainless screws!

If you look closely you will see the a-pillar VGs that I made from magnetic strips. (I'm in my vortex generator stage) I'm mostly trying these for noise reduction. Cheap fun.

http://ecomodder.com/forum/member-or...3-p1010319.jpg

New front belly tray installed. The old one was a big aero mess. This will also help keep the heat in the engine compartment. I cut up the old tray and left the side panels in which cover the engine sides and such from wheel spray. I used the stock mounting clips on the leading edge.

http://ecomodder.com/forum/member-or...4-p1010301.jpg

Grille block's done but there's nothing to see as I blocked the inside.

I also basjoosed the hood and headlights with foam tape which also helps keep the heat in the engine compartment.

How about a PN or link for those candle trays?

I think I might get a couple or 12.

Wheel covers are 18" Ikea candle platters. They also come in 11"

FLORERA: Candle dish $12.99
Key features: Soft feet protect the underlying surface and stabilizes the candle dish.
Product dimensions
Diameter: 18 "
Diameter: 46 cm

Product description & measurements
Main parts: Stainless steel
Felt pads: EVA plastic

IKEA | Candle holders & candles | Candle holders | FLORERA | Candle dish

I'll post a "how to hack" on them later.

The Golf has 195/65R15's, so I think the 18's would be great... they might look similar to the way yours are set up, where it looks like a low-profile tire.

I'll also check local stores of the craft variety for something similar.

Is the golf your new baby? Any pics up?

It's a thing I got... not really a "baby" yet, no pics yet either.

Has some noise in the transmission, and isn't drivable, needs some anti-rice.

I'll get some images up when I finally start working on it, though. So far, I've removed the ridiculously ghetto chrome 15's, and tied them to the tree out front, replacing them with 15" steelies from a Saturn.

LOL I was thinkin the same thing!!!!!:D

Your real job isn't shooting soft porn??????:eek:

I digresss.......:cool:

Is the cover actually touching the tire sidewall????

http://ecomodder.com/forum/member-or...4-p1010301.jpg

This one kinda shows it... they're elevated slightly away from the tire. The closer the better, but the difference is marginal, at best.

At some point, he says he's going to post the DIY for it... I'm hoping he details exactly what kind of spacers/etc are used to hold the piece out like that.

if you have a flat wont it bend your pan, or make it fly off ?

That's always a possibility, for sure. A flat would lower the wheel/tire assembly enough to actually allow the pan to hit the road, probably shredding the tire. This is potentially bad, but eh...

Back from a 2200 mile road trip to California. Whew! We decided to drive non -stop from a friend's place in Seattle to San Rafael in one day. Good weather and clear mountain passes allowed us to make it in about 18 1/2 hours.

We had to stop in Cedar Grove Oregon to fix a slow leak that was getting fast. The tire was rubbing on the cap and making noises because of the sidewall bulge at the lower pressure. It made a small groove in the sidewall which was no big deal because we were going to replace those tires soon anyhow. We found a Les Schwab who repaired it for free in 45 minutes and we were on our way. I had to remove the caps for them and we decided to keep them off for the rest of the trip because they only inflated the tires to 35 PSI and we didn't have time to fool around with finding air and putting them back on.

It would be better if the caps had a flat edge or a rubber strip on them where they meet the sidewall so this would not happen again if a slow leak occurred.

Otherwise, they worked flawlessly. I will be thinking of a way to solve the edge issue. Any ideas?

We just got a new set of LRR Nokian WR G2 185/65 R14s and I want to make sure that does not happen again.

Mounting points - make them flexible. If the tire softens, it can push the pan away from the hard mounting points, giving you more time to react before it starts grooving the tire sidewall.

For instance, you could mount the plate on springs instead of standoffs holding it away from the wheel, so that when you put pressure against one side, it would collapse the spring on the other side.

I thought about some kind of springs. Perhaps leave the bolts proud and have some wavy washers or springs so it can push off if contact is made. Your idea is a bit more steathy but the leverage effect would require lighter springs. I just wish it were easy to put a lip on them or bend out a lip.

I also thought of using some neoprene weather stripping which would seal the gap and create some padding there in case of deflections but I doubt the adhesive would last. Cheap to try though. It would allow a larger gap too without sacrificing aero.

I just thought of a possible way of slightly flattening/flaring them which may or may not work. They are a bit "deep" and may add to the frontal area. They could be sandwiched and compressed evenly. They might buckle though. Hmmm.

Frankly, you could also just lubricate them. The groove is from friction, so lubrication would help prevent the friction-created groove when your tire gets low. Of course, keeping your tires inflated is the best option. :P

Beeswax or some other solid wax-like lubricant would likely be best.

Mounting details. The machine screws are threaded and torqued into the rims and the discs are held out with ny-lock nuts so they can spin while screwing them on to the rims. A lot simpler than spacers. To do the spring idea the nuts just have to be turned back a bit to leave space.

That would help a bit but the angle they hit the tire is steeper than it looks. That's why I'd love to be able to flare them a bit, then the lube would really work. I wonder if armour-all is slippery enough.

The Nylon Locking Nuts wouldn't even need to be there, if you used springs, unless you wanted a "stop" point in order to prevent the pan from buckling.

One possible scenario is that the tire is so flat that it pushes the pan until it contacts the rim... just before this point, you may want a "stop" that prevents this from happening in favor of just letting the pan contact the rim... if your tire's gone that flat while driving, it may not be salvageable anyway, you know?

Of course, with nearly 1.75 inches of overlap from the pan to the rim, a truly flat tire will have the pans riding on the road, possibly cutting the tire anyway.

Another awesome Prius-modding thread. Subscribed. You're a man possessed!

Yeah... by the way is there a support group for the husbands & wives of ecomooders?

First thread: My husband has a "battery problem"

She jokes that PRIUS is to me like SQUIRREL is to the dogs in UP!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBWrMQVsuak

P.S. That really works on dogs. Hee Hee.

In continuation of the madness, I have just put on a 4" air dam on the Prius. I only had some "vertical grain" coroplast. I used some stainless brackets I got at the restore. I hate drilling stainless!

First test drive was promising. The butt meter felt an improvement but there were some strange whistling sounds coming from the dam. I was trying to think whether I left something hanging from the car that would whistle like that but then I realized that I had just created a giant pan flute under the car. Ha Ha! The sound generator that hybrids will need in the future!

It goes straight across for now but when I get more coroplast, I will make the sides lower and the centre higher.

The Prius has been starting to approach the Previa in coastdown performance. Hopefully this will take the Prius into the lead.

I'm way behind on my photo documentation. Bad Ecomodder.

Get some white glue and a long, thin tube/syringe, and tune that puppy to a decently low frequency!

Then, you'll have BASS!

A musical dam.

If you can't be BADASS at least you can have BASS.

(Speaking for myself, of course.)

Side note: Just found Hucho's aero bible and ordered in on interlibrary loan. I'll buy it for sure next time I'm rolling in cash.

Finally, a picture of the airdam/chin spoiler. This is the prototype. I will cut a new one with the centre cut higher and with the coroplast tubes running horizontal. I'm also going to check out the lawn edging to see how that might work. So far the butt-o-meter reports better coasting but that's not verified on my known hills.

It's attached with angle brackets sheetmetal screwed into the lower bumper edge. Easy installation. Coroplast has straight top edge.

http://ecomodder.com/forum/member-or...5-p1010517.jpg

Looks really good!

When you cut the new one, look up "kerf" cutting to make the bends easier with the fluting on the horizontal plane. With the radius you're making there, only a few cuts will get you a good curve easily, and you can add the strength back with either coat hanger wire inserted in the flutes, or some plain old glue. If you use glue, you'll have to hold the kerf cuts closed until it sets solid.

This'll help:

http://www.woodworking-news.com/wood...end-wood.shtml

Coroplast will bend just fine longitudinally without any special cutting for this radius. The smooth bends will also add strenght vertically. You'll see the bends in front of the wheels will be plenty stiff, it's impressive.

Will it bend over that much of a curve? I had trouble getting it to stick to the shape of my grille on the van, so I made a few vertical slices through the flutes, and it took the shape normally. I didn't add anything to those panels, though, except duct tape to hold them on.

You need more than tape to hold it in place, but it does bend nicely. The following was done just by screwing the flat cut piece in place.

http://ecomodder.com/forum/emgarage-...b36c4a1f6e.jpg

Hmmm. Kerf... I think I have one of those around here somewhere...

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_2X7snotMyZ...0/mantl051.JPG

That's what I plan to do when I get another piece of coroplast. A bit higher in the middle and deeper on the ends to shield the wheels.

looks good. Nice side skirts too. What are the construction / attachment details on those?

http://ecomodder.com/forum/emgarage-...b36c4a1f6e.jpg

It's super easy. I Just cut a piece of coroplast 6 inches longer than the rocker panel at each end. Apply caulk along the rocker panel. Three screws to attach it to the front wheel plastic fender liner, jack the back and remove the wheels, pull the coroplast pretty tight so it's well tensioned, fold the end back into the wheel well and three other screws into the rear wheel fender liner to fix it. I use three screws to adjust and set the vertical angle of the skirts. And then top it off with a nice bead of caulk along the topline of the skirt.