Dam, It works! (Air dam on Smart Fortwo: 3-4% MPG improvement)

[chumly]

Originally Posted by ECONORAM

I am curious as to how you fastened your wheel covers on the wheels. Did you bolt them on, with washers holding the bolts in place?



I am not following the 45º air dam idea? Is it angled forwards at 45º to the road surface?

The covers are held on by zip ties only. I drilled 1 hole per wheel spoke and attached 1 zip to each spoke, poked the ends through the holes in the cover and zipped the squares cut from other ties onto the ties protruding from the cover and then cut the ends off. So far they are holding up very well, if you need to remove the covers you could stick a small screwdriver or tip of a knife into the catch or just cut them off and replace them, not hard at all to do but if using a knife be carefull, I found out the hard way that my razor sharp knife is razor sharp. Chumly

[BikerModder]

Ok. I think it is. I have one of those that is. Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum - EcoModder.com - BikerModder's Album: Fortwo - Picture

[BikerModder]

I like the idea here and it makes it look more normal than what the front of the car could be. I had a push bar plan and even thought of a hammer head shark to just funnel the air up but the tubular aluminum arm I had thought of could be unstable. This looks nice and complements the car?

Also you are achieving greater results than I would of hoped for myself in my own Smart Fortwo without much of a way in shape change.

It is looking ok. i am sure you get the occasional giggle though it being a Smart Car.

[ECONORAM]

Originally Posted by CitroX

Look a few posts above which explain why the mpg dropped on my car . And if the belly would be as low as the splitter the car would be undriveable.

I agree, if the splitter piece increased the frontal area, that would reduce mpg. What I meant was for the splitter to be the same level as your current belly panels. But that would require a lot of work to cut and plastic weld that splitter. You'd be better off selling it and modifying your belly panel to stick forward about 2.5cm.

Originally Posted by chumly

The covers are held on by zip ties only. I drilled 1 hole per wheel spoke and attached 1 zip to each spoke, poked the ends through the holes in the cover and zipped the squares cut from other ties onto the ties protruding from the cover and then cut the ends off. So far they are holding up very well, if you need to remove the covers you could stick a small screwdriver or tip of a knife into the catch or just cut them off and replace them, not hard at all to do but if using a knife be carefull, I found out the hard way that my razor sharp knife is razor sharp. Chumly

I have also learned about razor sharp knives in that same way...

[Eric839]

That lower grill block looks awesome chumly! I want to do something like that so I can remove in the summer if necessary.
Do you have more detailed pictures of the installation process?

[chumly]

No more pictures but it was simple, I just drilled two holes (one on each end) into the plastic grill pieces that have the foglights and used a piece of threaded stock and nuts on each end. The licence plate frame holds it in the center and one wingnut with washers on each end is all I needed to hold it on. This way if the car starts to run too hot I can remove it in a few seconds but so far I only did it once, interstate driving with ac and 100+ F outside temperature. It was running warm but not too bad, about 210, and I found out later wasn't anything to worry about. Chumly

[Eric839]

Thank you for those tips, today i went to a hardware store to start searching for the acrylic and this week i'll make a cardboard template

[chumly]

Originally Posted by BikerModder

I like the idea here and it makes it look more normal than what the front of the car could be. I had a push bar plan and even thought of a hammer head shark to just funnel the air up but the tubular aluminum arm I had thought of could be unstable. This looks nice and complements the car?

Also you are achieving greater results than I would of hoped for myself in my own Smart Fortwo without much of a way in shape change.

It is looking ok. i am sure you get the occasional giggle though it being a Smart Car.

You should see the car in December when it's decorated with xmas lights and antlers, I get a lot of giggles when I'm wearing that red suit. Ho,Ho,Ho!

[chumly]

I changed things in the last year. I removed the air dam and skirts made from lawn edging and gutters. I replaced them with garage door seals cut to fit. The work just as well but look much better and are more flexible but still stiff enough. I used automotive emblem adhesive to attach it and so far it's working for several months and ALL kinds of weather with no problems. I tried using double stick tape but it didn't work very well. The garage door seals are the same thing as the rubber air dams and skirts on E-Bay but without the double stick tape already applied. Chumly

[elhigh]

Sounds pretty slick. Any new pics?