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AM's '96 Ford Aspire mod thread
While looking around for a cheap car with a manual transmission to learn on, I was contacted about a '96 Ford Aspire with a 5 speed. I ended up buying it for $650!
It's in pretty good shape with 155k miles, few scratches, and good interior (shows signs of use, but not abuse). The guy I bought it from said that he was having an issue where it would lose power and smoke out the exhaust for 15-20 seconds once in a while, but it was fine otherwise. I've started with running Seafoam through the motor and changing the oil to Mobile 1 high mileage synthetic. The oil was quite dark before the Seafoam/change. Next I'll be giving it a tuneup (plugs/wires, cap/rotor, fuel/air filters, injector cleaner) and cleaning the intake system (throttle body, MAF sensor). From there, I'll start learning how to drive it. Pictures, taken by the PO: http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y93...ey/aspire1.jpg http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y93...ey/aspire2.jpg http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y93...ey/aspire3.jpg Needless to say, it needs a LOT of work done to the aero to squeeze more MPGs out of it on the highway. My first goal is 50 MPG highway, and if I meet that, my second goal will be 50 MPG tank averages. I've already laid the streamlining template over the same model: http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y93...ireoverlay.jpg I'm planning on raising the hatch to come closer to meeting the template, but I'll also test a spoiler similar to the Crisis Fighter Pinto model. Since it's a '96, I'll be able to get a Scangauge or similar tool to measure the actual improvements of the mods, as opposed to guessing from tank averages. But the first instrumentation addition will be a tach, because it doesn't have one. I'll need to find a cheap camera to document the aeromods with! For now, it'll just be learning how to master a manual transmission and fixing it up as needed. Oh, some other stats for the car: 1.3L I4 Manual steering, windows, and locks Does have AC 155/80/13 tires Weighs about 2100 lbs It doesn't have a name yet, but it's going to have to be something related to a turtle. My wife is wanting to call it "Nibbles..." |
Squirtle... :D
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50 mpg
An acquaintance who owned an Aspire claimed 50 mpg highway for his.It seemed reasonable in light of the frontal area,weight,etc.. My stock '84 CRX averaged 52 mpg at the old double-nickel speed limit and the Aspire is not remarkably unlike it.
I don't think you'll have any trouble getting there. |
I was poking around the underside a bit, and I think I'm going to do a full undertray on this one, using wood blocks to make mounting points along the underside. I'll also try to go with a 4* diffuser, starting from the rear axle. The skinny 155 tires will make full rear wheel skirts very doable. Definitely going to do an air dam as well.
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I always considered Aspires to be under-utilized compared to the Geo Metro. There just seems to be less of them pulling big MPGs, perhaps less overall units on the road?
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Since it is a hatchback you could raise the hatch to the appropriate angle and just fill in the gaps. that way you would be able to use the stock glass.
This would also allow you to experiment with the ideal angle that you need. It could be fully reversible too if you don't drill into the body. |
Oh wait - I forgot your hatch glass is connected to the hatch.
I'm so used to my Civic hatch, which has the glass open separate from the bottom half of the hatch. |
I was hoping that the glass section would be separate, so I could do that very thing. Unfortunately, it's all one piece.
I took it out for the first time yesterday to fill it with gas (OUCH, 3.20 for REGULAR!), and it's not all that hard to drive! I just need to find and remember where the clutch slips and give it some gas at the right moment. First mod is going to be an aftermarket tach, since the stock cluster doesn't include one. |
Aspire
Aero,I found my piece on the Aspire.It is so close to the CRX with exception of the rear hatch which isn't as steep.My car was advertised at Cd 0.32 but registered only Cd 0.35 in a better wind tunnel.Your Aspire is Cd 0.36,and that's a yaw-averaged Cd.It should be a very conservative number.
The belly will help.The diffuser will help but it won't function until everything upstream is clean.So I would recommend you start at the nose and work back. Here are some things I did to the CRX which would lend themselves to the Aspire: * wrap-around nose/airdam with flexible chin and built-in grille block.Plex covered headlamps and signals. * rocker panel extensions to get sides even with sides of tires and guide air down the sides. * Full-coverage rear wheel skirts * Full dish wheel covers * bellypan ( I just added panels where Honda didn't have 'em ) * Rear hatch header wing/C-pillar buttress extension out to new tail * 12-inch boat tail with electrical umbilical for integral trailer lights built in. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The kit pushed the top speed from 93,to 100 mph at sea-level. Mpg went from 52.2 mpg @ 55 mph,to 60.6 mpg at same velocity. Highest one-way run went from 62 mpg,to 82 mpg,over a 345,000 mile database. Drag coefficient dropped from Cd 0.35,to 0.235 -------------------------------------------------------------------------- I think a 'kit' could do exactly the same for your car.And you could take it further! Really 'basjoos it.' |
Did some digging and found out the Aspire SE model came with a rear hatch spoiler. My estimation puts the height just underneath the template, which should be good enough for attached flow.
http://www.dragtimes.com/images-clas...0688296683.jpg I'm thinking of using it as a mount for a kammback if I can find one for cheap. The Wings West ones cost nearly $200. Or, I might try vortex generators and see if that helps. The shape of the Aspire's rear end is very similar to the shape of the body used in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fz9Xcv-xMXg Without VGs: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1koo...eature=related The Aspire's hatch is a 25* average with a maximum angle of 35*, with the glass starting at about 22*. I'll be doing some tuft testing to find the separation point when the weather clears up. Also, I took it out on the highway for the first time this morning. 5th gear runs the engine at 2400 RPM at 55 MPH. Not too bad, but taller tires might help some. |
Aspire Road Test
AERO,I found a road test for the Aspire in the May,1994 CAR and DRIVER,p.157
*frontal area 21.1 sq ft *curb weight 2131 lb *63 Bhp *top speed 93 mph *22.6 mph/1,000 rpm ( 5th gear ) *observed fuel economy 27 mpg * *C&D road warriors drive very 'spiritedly' and I suspect that the 27 mpg figure is VERY conservative. PS what ever you do at the back,stay away from 28-degrees.At that angle,the separation point moves around from a wagon-back wake,to a fast-back wake.The buffeting is horrendous!;) |
Thanks for the info! I used to have a stack of old Automobile magazines, but they ended up getting recycled during a move. The 93 Bhp figure must be at the flywheel. I've seen it rated for 64 elsewhere.
Hopefully I'll be picking up a Scangauge soon. Payday is around the corner! |
63-not-93
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I corrected the engine horsepower to 63 Bhp instead of 93. And yes,it is measured at the flywheel. |
Found an Aspire forum where a member took some inspiration from Ecomodder members (FastPlastic, Daox, and someone with a black T100 regular cab) and made himself an air dam.
Ford Aspire Com - The Internet's #1 Ford Aspire and Kia Avella Resource! -> Coroplast front bumper project Here's a pic of the guy's quick mock-up for reference: http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/h...204092318a.jpg I'll be doing the same kind of air dam, but I'll probably close the upper grille and cut some holes in to let air into the lower grille. I'll also put in something to force the incoming air through the radiator like I did on the Tempo. I've noticed the Aspire's temp gauge likes to hang around the middle. |
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I could do much more, but it has great air conditioning and has an automatic transmission. I do not even have to hypermile the car! |
(oops- '95) I saw a real nice one and talked to the owner- very angry about getting parts for his. Needs some serious ecomodding I guess. 2 door/hatch like mine but many more miles (mine has 83,000).
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Christopher Jordan- the main reason yours gets only 37 is because it is an automatic. The autos were only rated at like 37. My wife used to have one and that is all we got as well. Good luck and keep trying to get it better.
J |
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Unless you already have an aftermarket tachometer or can get one for cheap, I would put the money toward a Scangauge/Ultragauge. My car didn't come with a tach and it didn't affect my driving (I swapped a different cluster into it that had a tach, but I never really look at it). In my opinion, the throttle percentage and instant mileage feedback provided by an OBD-II gauge will help you much more than a tach. You can even display a tach on them if you want.
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I've got the aftermarket tach installed, and I do plan on getting a SG2 for it soon. It was a $30 Sunpro tach, same one I installed in my Tempo. It only took an hour to install (mostly because it was so darn cold and windy out), and it's come in very handy, especially since it's my first time driving a stick. The engine is so quiet it was hard to tell if I stalled it or not. Besides, the nice 2 5/8" dial is much easier to read than a small LCD screen!
I found out that my current tire size (155/80/13) is 3% taller than stock (165/70/13). Adjusting for this, it's actually about 2300 RPM at 55. With the taller tires, you pretty much have to add in the 3% difference yourself, since the odo/speedo doesn't register a difference in your tire's distance per revolution. |
I got a bit of work done in the measuring/comparing department.
I found a better profile image of a 5-door Aspire, and matched up the template as best as I could (even estimating my ride height as compared to the image's): http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y93...ireoverlay.jpg With the spoiler, I was looking at it's height and how close it would bring me to the template: http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y93...IMG_0337-1.jpg Estimations put it at just around halfway between the bottom of the rear glass and the template. I also laid the profile shot over the Prius overlay, matching the templates up perfectly. http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y93...ireoverlay.jpg You can see it's not going to take a lot of additional height to bring the angle up to Prius territory. I'd like to find some wind tunnel images/video of the Pruis to see if I should go closer to the template, or if a Prius profile is close enough. |
Just used up the first tank, without any mods. Baseline MPG is 39 with a mix of city/highway.
Tomorrow I'll be popping on some smooth wheel covers. I took some nice-looking hubcaps and put clear plastic over them, giving the the smooth, convex shape with some decent looks. Scangauge is installed, and I picked up a cheap camera today. Pics of the car to come! |
I installed my smooth wheel covers today.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y93...e/IMG_0038.jpg http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y93...e/IMG_0043.jpg http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y93...e/IMG_0042.jpg http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y93...e/IMG_0041.jpg http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y93...e/IMG_0040.jpg We'll see if I notice a difference. The Scangauge seems to be showing around 1.11 GPH as the average fuel use on the highway. I don't think I'll notice a difference with the wheel covers, since the previous ones were already pretty smooth. |
if
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The Prius is close,so you're gonna benefit either way.Maybe some quick and dirty cardboard and masking tape mockups would give you a sense for your outward vision to the rear.GM is doing Template roofs on their wagons,as they're 'short'. On the coupes and sedans they're a bit fast but GM has very stringent outward vision criteria which trumps aerodynamics way back to the 1980s with Aero-X. |
I'll probably do that. I was planning on getting some plexiglass or lexan for a new rear window, but doing a mockup with cardboard first would allow me to figure out where the placement would be best.
I'll also be tuft testing the rear to see what's going on with it right now, in stock setup. If the weather holds, I'll see about getting a video of it. |
Tuft testing, mudflap deletion, with data!
Got some tuft testing in, and the results are interesting. there seems to be good attachment all the way down along the sides, but the middle is completely detached almost all the way up the hatch. The side attachment is most likely from vorticies.
Still image at 55 MPH: http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y93...fts55still.jpg Video at 65 MPH: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wm2RP...el_video_title I also removed the OEM mudflaps and took some video of the Scangauge readings at 55 MPH, both on and off. I'll be uploading those videos soon, but here's the before and after pictures for the moment: Before: http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y93...e/IMG_0036.jpg http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y93...e/IMG_0035.jpg http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y93...e/IMG_0042.jpg After: http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y93...e/IMG_0081.jpg http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y93...e/IMG_0082.jpg http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y93...e/IMG_0083.jpg http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y93...e/IMG_0084.jpg The reduction in wind noise from the mudflap deletion is definitely noticeable. I decided to get some video after seeing my GPH reading stay pretty steady around 1.08, +/- a bit, when it was around 1.15 before. EDIT: Here's the videos from the testing: Flaps on: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdzEWCYTYk8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUpklnWbX4g Flaps off: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDQEOIcjT5c http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9Co8GJdjy8 |
Impressive! I did not realise those little mupflaps were so noisy. Prompted me to to do the same with my Aspire. Now that gas is hovering around $4. here and oil at $104+ this morning, these cars sure make good sense to ecomod!
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I would be curious about the amount of flutter your wheel disks have. Reminds me of the sheet of plastic wrapped over the sofa in the bed of the pickup truck.
Perhaps you might consider some heat shrinkable plastic or cloth. As far as plastic you could use Monocote. In cloth think polyester, it can be gotten at the local fabric store or can be had in the form of dacron from an aviation supply such as aircraftspruce It is used for covering airframes. In either case use glue to glue the edges on. I am going to remove the mud flaps from my VW. |
I've noticed a small amount of flutter, and I'll probably be redoing them. This was v1.0 just to test the theory, and it does seem to hold.
I might also try them with the plastic off and see how much of a difference there is. Otherwise, I'll probably cut the plastic into circles and get them to fit tighter. |
Before I get into constructing a kammback, and while I'm waiting for materials to come in, I decided I'll give delta vortex generators a shot on this particular body style.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y93...e/IMG_0086.jpg http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y93...e/IMG_0087.jpg A-B-B-A testing to be done on a clear day. I'll be marking the exact positions of the VGs before I remove them so they'll be replaced in exactly the same way. |
you may want to move those VGs up some. From the photos you posted earlier, the air is already detached at the window. Usually the VGs have to be placed prior to the airflow detaching in order to keep the air attached further along.
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vortices
The attached longitudinal vortices are no surprise and the Kamm extension should cure it.
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The VGs actually seem to work in their current location. Tufts show good straight flow over the entire rear window.
The flow without the VGs reminds me of the new Beetle, which also has a Cd of .36. I'm sure I can get it down to .32 with just the kammback. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gx084gKTLZ8 However, I haven't noticed a change in fuel economy with them on, and I'm sure testing won't show a noticeable difference. I'll definitely be going with a kammback. I need to get a hold of the sign shop again, because I haven't heard back from them yet... |
what do your vortex generators look like up close? are they similar to these ones?
Vortex Generators Experimental Aircraft Ultralight - eBay (item 200552287461 end time Apr-06-11 07:34:30 PDT) |
They appear to be the ones modeled after those on the Mitsubishi EVO, with roughly the same placement that they proved to be effective.
Vortekz.com: Vortekz Generators |
Yep, they're the Vortekz ones. I've had them for a while and thought I'd go ahead and test them against the Scangauge.
The point of separation without them seemed to be around the top row of tufts. The VGs are actually 100mm upstream of that point. |
Got some free time to fit a few mods on. Testing on each one to come.
I started working on a windshield wiper deflector, and finally did the fitting and trimming: http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y93...e/IMG_0228.jpg http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y93...e/IMG_0229.jpg I also constructed a spoiler on the top of the hatch, which matches up with the template rather well: http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y93...e/IMG_0230.jpg http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y93...e/IMG_0231.jpg http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y93...fileupload.jpg http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y93...ateoverlay.jpg To try to eliminate those nasty vorticies on the corners, I added some trip strips: http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y93...e/IMG_0232.jpg http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y93...e/IMG_0233.jpg http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y93...e/IMG_0234.jpg |
My two sheets of black coroplast came in yesterday, and I had today off, so I went ahead and made the barn door for the front end.
http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y93...e/IMG_0249.jpg http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y93...e/IMG_0250.jpg http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y93...e/IMG_0251.jpg http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y93...IMG_0242-1.jpg |
NEET! What a great surprise too! I had no idea there was a fordaspire.com - GREAT way to spend an afternoon, learning about Kia Avella/Aspire (and I kinda enjoyed watching that Aspire winning even if it beat a Geo Metro!)
I removed the mudflaps from my Aspire; so it probably gets more miles per gallon :D . |
Thanks for your hint on removing your mud flaps. I took the rubber ones off the VW yesterday and got 48 mpg today over 400 miles. Let''s hope for more of the same.
I am sure other things were going on for mileage like having warmer weather. You were right on about having less noise. |
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