Big front bumper improves MPG

[TomO]

Very nice looking, goes along with the motto on the side of the van!

[slowmover]

Looks good, and congrats on the increase.

Have a look at orbywans work on his Class C motorhome for further inspiration.

LRR tires on that? Eliminated steering slop? Added SAFE STEER? Kenworth and Cummins are both serious about this in White Papers on the subject of mpg.

You can also look up MICROBLUE RACING for fun on lowered drag rear axle gears and wheel bearings.

Can also look at "The Aerodynamic Template" around here in conjunction with DON-BUR trailer shape (thinking roof).

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[euromodder]

Looks mean indeed - and slightly Mad Max

Love the spikes on the wheels, but I'd expect them to hurt the mileage a bit.

Originally Posted by Low and Mean

Who would ever known trying to get better mpg would be so fun! Any suggestions on how we can improve our mpg more?

Drive 55-60 again
You're negating a good part of the improvements by using it to drive faster.
Though if time = money in your business, you could run maybe just a few tanks @ 55-60 to see the true effect of the modifications.

Flat front wheel covers.

Put a boattail on the rear using some angled, flat plates.
It's already being done to improve the mpg of semis.

If you ever need to do some work on the fairing over the cab, widen it to the width of the box.

[brucepick]

Nice job - with regard to design concepts, looks, and RESULTS!
Congrats!

[astra74]

Really nice job! The greatest potential for improvement is in the rear. A picture from behind wold be useful. If the corners of the cargo box in the back are round like in the front, then you could probably reduce drag by making them sharp and sticking out a bit, on the end of the side and top panels, to promote flow detachment.

[JRMichler]

Originally Posted by Low and Mean

We bought a turbo added a innercooler and propane injection, which really improves the performance and mpg. Then we covered the rear wheels and wrapped the van with a 12" rubber skirt. The last step is the big front bumper we made out of fiberglass with a rubber skirt below. The end result we took a van from 10-11 mpg to 14-15mpg going 60-65 mph (where before we could only get 55-60mph max speed).

Are you including the propane burned when you calculate mileage? What is the percentage of propane in your fuel mix?

[slowmover]

It appears that the addition of Aero and PI have made the vehicle capable of a higher overall road speed (which, with weight, means better choices about hill climbs) and lending greater main fuel range. Which should be impossible, right?

[ausias]

Originally Posted by Low and Mean

Any suggestions on how we can improve our mpg more?
LM

A pillar must have an air deflector with vortex generators to improve flow avoiding flat surface drag.
The upper Air drag need more width to ensure flat surface drag is reduced (and reducing flat surfae for a curved air friendly one).
A Boat Tail will help a lot on lowering drag.

Nokian or Continental VancoContact2 tires with c.r.r = 0.0064 if is possible, Michelin Agilis crrr = 0.0071, with the same rubber, and width coefficents of rolling resistance is lower if radius is higher. Linear dependence is showed in european tests for ecolabelling tires.

Congratulations of your mods.

[mcrews]

KEEP THE FRONT TIRES!!!!!!!!

any SLIGHT lose in mpg is made up in a HUGE amount of ATTITUDE!!!!

somebody snears at you and you can "BEN HUR" them!!!!

[ecomodded]

Remove the rear dually wheels put a spacer (that they sell for this) on then one commercial tire a side. Fuel savings may be as high as 2 or 3 mpg.
Remove mirrors add wide angle cameras mounted on a piece of pipe that is bolted to the original mirror mount points.
My guesstimate is the mirrors would save 1 -2 mpg, making possible 4 -5 mpg combined improvement on top of what you have done already,possible you could get 19-20 mpg in your cube van.
*Wow* that would be a cube van miracle that your close to making a reality.
I bet you could sell your Eco mods to other van operators.Great work you have done.