AV build thread
 

I have been hypermiling for a while now, and now I wish to work on aerodynamic modifications. My car is a 2004 Chevy Aveo sedan AT rated at 23/31/26 mpgUS city/highway/combined respectively. I have posted a thread here on ecomodder about an upper grill block that I made for my car to smooth out the front a bit, but in an attempt to keep things organized, I will add modifications that I make to this thread.
Here is a picture of my car with no changes:
http://oi43.tinypic.com/23wm9dz.jpg
Here is the grill block I added:
http://ecomodder.com/forum/member-av...5-img-0836.jpg
Side view:
http://ecomodder.com/forum/member-av...4-img-0835.jpg

By the way, the grill block is made out of coroplast and it screws in and out where the original grill went (completely reversible).

Very clean!

Nice cutting!

After making the grill block, I wanted to do more. My next task was to make an air dam. My first goal was to make a prototype out of cardboard to test engine temps, clearance and attachment points. It wasn't looking good as it was December in suburban Chicago, and I didn't want to work on my car in the cold. Oddly, a sudden heat wave hit (40F+ temps) at the beginning of January, and I had the warm that I wanted (I tried working on some rust on my car the day that I made my prototype as well, and being fair-skinned, I was actually concerned with getting burned with how long I was outside).

A couple notes before the picture:
I ran out of cardboard so I know it was only halfway completed
It is attached with 3 screws, some packing tape and fishing line (It was all I could think of since there was only 20 min before sunset)

Anyway, here are the pictures:
http://ecomodder.com/forum/member-av...6-img-0841.jpg
http://ecomodder.com/forum/member-av...img-0842-1.jpg
http://ecomodder.com/forum/member-av...img-0843-1.jpg

Living and working as a pizza delivery man in an upper middle class area (some neighborhoods I deliver to have multimillion dollar mansions), you wouldn't believe the looks I'd get from some people as they drive by in their BMWs, Audis and Lexii? At first, I almost wanted to duck beneath the steering wheel to hide my face. Then, I became proud of what I had created and started realizing that the looks on people's faces were hilarious (I should take pictures). I actually started to enjoy driving around to watch people watch my car.

Finally, after a week or so of driving around with the cardboard, I felt it was time to make something more permanent. Research led me to the conclusion that I would have the best luck locating large sheets of coroplast at a sign shop. Sure enough, I found a shop selling them in 4' X 8' sheets for "about $25" as the employee told me. They didn't have any in stock that day, so they said that they would order some and have them in the next day. The next day, I walked in and asked if I could pay with a debit card (since I like to keep the cash in my wallet as change for customers when I deliver pizzas). The man paused and said that I could. Sensing his reluctance, I offered to pay with cash. The only problem was that I only had $22 in my wallet. He then said that was ok, so I already had saved $3 (or almost a gallon of gas) on my new air dam without even installing it.:D

Then, on another 40F day I installed my coroplast air dam.
Here it is:
http://ecomodder.com/forum/member-av...img-0844-1.jpg
http://ecomodder.com/forum/member-av...img-0846-1.jpg
http://ecomodder.com/forum/member-av...3-img-0847.jpg

I plan to paint it black to match the grill block. Its held in with 6 screws and I had to drill into the plastic covering inside the wheel well to secure it better.

I intend to ABA test it, but the weather needs to be nice so it might be a while before that happens.

You should definitely see some gains with that air dam. What about cooling though ?

Other than that, looking good ! :thumbup:

CigaR007, I have not noticed any difference in my water temperature since putting the air dam on. I'm expecting that to be different once summer comes around though, and I will adjust my modification accordingly.

Just finished taking out the back seats and a few things out of my trunk and glovebox. Total weight reduction: ~85 lbs. I still have a tool set in there that I would like to keep and a sub woofer (the sub is definitely not moving - I like my music loud:thumbup:). I might take out the front passenger seat (another ~40 lbs) since most of my driving is done when I'm the only person in the car.

Anyway, here are pics:
View from front seat
http://ecomodder.com/forum/member-av...3-img-0851.jpg
View from rear right side door
http://ecomodder.com/forum/member-av...2-img-0848.jpg