Better Aerodynamics for the Corolla

[ps2fixer]

Originally Posted by JRMichler

Take a hard look at temperature and wind direction. I get anywhere from 30 to 42 MPG on a particular 60 mile highway route depending only on temperature and wind. That's with identical speeds and driving style.

The 42 MPG was on a 75 degree day (no AC) and a direct tailwind about 15 MPH.

I have been able to steadily average 41-42mpg since then with little effect from winds (70% of my driving is wooded area). See http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...mpg-20699.html for more talk about that trip.

[Gone2]

Originally Posted by ps2fixer

The only reasion for the cardboard is because my thermostat was stuck open and was running around 160F, with the cardboard it could get to 166-170 and about 174 in town. I forgot to remove it when I installed the new 192F thermostat, but watching my scangauge closely, it has never gone over 204F. I do plan to remove it once i make a grill block though.

I do plan on removing the mud flaps, they actually have a slot at the top of them to allow the air to go though, so I'm not sure how much of a difference it would make.

I was thinking about a mirror delete, but state law prevents me since it requires two OUTSIDE! mirrors.... Might look at folding in the passenger side since I rarely use it/need it and it would still be there... just not adjusted well .

The steel rims appear fairly smooth, would smooth wheel covers really make much of a difference? I thing lighter is better for wheel covers, so I would be looking to use chloroplast besides the fact I don't want the flashy hubcaps. Should be fairly easy to cut a circle in chloroplast, make holes for the lugnuts (4) and one for the valvestem. I have an extra set of Camry hubcaps that should go on this just fine, but I was thinking the extra weight would offset the small aero benefit. I'm thinking I could fill the indents in the hubcaps to have a good look yet aero. Ones I have are like these:




I'm also thinking a whiper blade aero deflector might be a fair benefit as well.

So many mods, so little time! I work 8 days on, 6 days off, so in a few days I'll have to play around with some mods .

If you have an Autozone up that way, I'm from down south, see if you can find the small size mirrors. I paid around $10 a piece for mine and mounted them below where the originals were. My passenger is currently removed and sitting in my floorboard. I picked up about a 5-6% increase just by decreasing the size of the mirror. Also, Home Depot down here carries coroplast by the 4' x 8' sheets. They call it corrugated plastic. Just a thought. Otherwise, I'll be following closely. Looks great

[deathtrain]

Here is my 94 with disks on it and when i did my lower grill.

[ps2fixer]

I'm thinking about the smaller mirrors, thanks for the tip that auto zone has them. For the Chloroplast, the Home Depot in my area don't carry it... largest size they have is 30x36 inches and I asked the store manager if they could get any larger sizes, he called around and didn't have any luck.

@deathtrain

Is that all of your mods? lower grill block and the moon caps? 50+mpg is epic mileage for a corolla . The moon caps look pretty good on the corolla when painted black, might have to look into getting some of them, or making them myself.


I have been throwing the idea around about a manual gear selector switch to over ride my ECU to be in any gear I want at any speed with lockup on or off. If I'm thinking it out right, I would basically be driving the car like a stick with a few tricks I'll have to figure out about shifting it smoothly. Of what I read for another Toyota, it only has two solenoids that control which gear it is in.


Have not tested the LF1 yet, might be able to tonight though.

[Gone2]

homedepot.com and have it shipped to store, or your house. Be careful with the manual gear selector for auto tranny's. It's not bad, just be careful. If plausible, you may consider a manual swap.

[deathtrain]

no I got the upper done now. but I got the standard so thats what gets my higher mpg

[ps2fixer]

LF1 didn't work on my car :-/.

If your getting 60mpg with such little mods on a 1.6L and a manual trans, I might have to keep an eye out for one of them . That would give me a ~30% savings nearly instant, or just keep modding this corolla, either way very interesting stuff to learn and do.

[deathtrain]

Another thing is my location. I live in the flat lands of south texas and we dont know what snow is. and my driving is 2 miles to the freeway with two stops signs then it 30mi highway @55 mph. I have an exit for my work and i can EOC from the freeway into the parking lot.

[Grant-53]

I'm driving a 1995 Geo Prizm 1.6L with a 5 spd and AC. With no mods I get 36 mpg at 65mph. The airflow around the rear window is smooth judging by the water left after driving in the rain. I am looking at a 6 in. front air dam, grill mesh, fog lamps, rear wheel skirts, wheel fairing splash guards, belly pan, and a rear deck spoiler. I need a strip across the roof above the rear window to keep the snow from blowing onto the rear window. The belly pan may be in sections for easier access when doing maintenance. I have thought about moon wheel covers but I am rather fond of the aluminum wheels I swapped from an Escort GT.

[ps2fixer]

Yesterday I installed a lower grill block (about 85% blocked off), deleted the mud flaps, and folded in the passenger's mirror which should have been done a month ago >,<. First trip today with the mods with the typical wind from the west, and had a new trip record of 45.3mpg. This is with lights on, traveling at 45mph for about 36 miles to work. The last record was going home in the morning (no lights), traveling at 45mph. So far that is a 4-7 mpg gain (before I averaged 38-41) or a 10-18% gain (only 1 trip to base on so far).

Things are looking up, had a few times I was able to maintain speed at 45mph and have the scan gauge say 60mpg on fairly flat ground .

The only draw back so far is the water temp is a bit higher than before. Normaly while driving it rides around 202F (max 206F spikes), Today 80% of the trip it was 202-204F.. not a prob, but the last bit (best mpg as well) was higher, jumped to 212F pretty quick, then steadied off at around 215F. Max was 216F. Keep in mind I have a 192F thermostat, factory was 180F. I also have NEVER heard the fan kick on, when my dad changed the thermostat, he couldn't get it to open while idling to burp the system.

My intake is well away from the engine (front left corner up high) and intake temp was going up the entire trip, ended up around 96F nice and warm! I have been throwing the engine blanket idea around, but not sure how hot I should allow the under hood temps to get to before worrying. Besides quicker warm up times, I won't see much of a benefit since after I get to work, the car sits 10.5 hours.

I think the belly pan or some wheel covers should be next. Got to get a 50mpg average trip .


_______________________________

EDIT:

Woot new record again!

47mpg on the trip home.

Before I was around 42-45 mpg at 45mph and averaged 38-41mpg per tank, so if it is relatively close to the difference now, I should be getting close to a 45mpg tank average (didn't check scan gauge).

Couple things to note, wind was low (less fight for the first 1/3rd trip home), when I got home my pc said the weather is 55F outside (seems closer to 50 to me but w\e), and finally peak water temp hit 224F, it stuck around 213F for a while and bounced around 220F a bit after that. When I had to stop at a stop light the temp went down!


I think an adjustable lower block is a MUST for any warmer of weather. That way I can have it 100% closed when I first start the car, and once it gets up to temp (around 200-210F) I can open it up some, and if it starts to get too hot, open more. Currently it only has about a 5-6 inch wide opening by about 4 inches. I think I'll make the opening around 12 inches wide (license plate width) and have it adjustable from 0-12 inch opening from within the car.

I'm really excited, I can't wait to fill up (another 200-250 miles to go ....). If I can hit 45mpg on this tank, my latest goal will be met O.o. When I bought this car I never dreamed it could even get close to 50mpg, was guessing max 40-42 (prior research).