Drove the Ecomodded civic to a drag racing event

[turbovr41991]

I went up to Norwalk, Ohio for the DSM Shootout this past weekend. It is an event for Mitsubishi powered vehicles featuring many 8 second quarter mile 4 cylinder turbos. Since none of us were racing we decided to take my civic for the best fuel economy. I was shocked with how many people came up and complemented the car and its eco mods. I felt as if I brought up my race car and people were checking it out asking about the mods and horse power gains> Instead, they were asking about my LRR tires, grill block, mirror delete, and wondering what its effect was on my gas mileage. Pretty neat! Are people starting to come around??? lol

[metromizer]

I think people are coming around...

[Sven7]

Sweet! I've been noticing some people getting interested in mods as well- many of them drive big trucks that are terrible on gas.

Do you have any pics of the car at the event?

[HydroJim]

It's mainly the people who understand cars who seem to be interested. A lot of the kids at my high school think the aerofocus is cool, but there are still many who say it's stupid and ask why I did it to my car. Those tend to be the kids with parents who bought their car and pay for their gas and insurance. They wouldn't even know how to put air in their tires

[NickelB NL]

Thats "cool". I bet that when you tell those guys that it also makes the cars faster they would also do it to their cars. Maybe gain a couple tenths. If you use 15% less energy what would 600 700 hp gain? I know the percentage would be less

[Sven7]

Originally Posted by NickelB NL

Thats "cool". I bet that when you tell those guys that it also makes the cars faster they would also do it to their cars. Maybe gain a couple tenths. If you use 15% less energy what would 600 700 hp gain? I know the percentage would be less

There was a guy on here awhile back looking to get more top end speed out of his EG Civic drag car through aeromodding. That's the cool thing about it- you can apply the principles to a number of different ends, be it a commuter car or an all-out racer.

[ecomodded]

Land speed records and areomodding have been hand in hand since the beginning, making for some interesting early photos on the Salt Flats. Some members are at the salt flats as we speak. Which is pretty cool and historical, as events are well documented.
I think they should make a new class for people doing more extreme mpg mods, as some of our members here are.
http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...ust-19538.html

I enjoy tweaking my car, its become a hobby for me, i have some relatively easy mods to do yet, that are effective, my rear wheel covers will be designed after the kill switch goes in today.

[turbovr41991]

Originally Posted by Sven7

Do you have any pics of the car at the event?

I will have to check and see if I have pictures of it. I was mainly taking pictures of the 7 and 8 second quarter mile 2.0 liter turbo cars. I think the best time of the day was a 7.2 @ 174 mph! Its 60 foot was 1.2 seconds at 64 mph. I can not even imagine a car going 1-60 in less than 1.2 seconds...

Originally Posted by HydroJim

It's mainly the people who understand cars who seem to be interested.

That is probbaly true. Most people who modify cars to be faster can understand why areodynaic can help. Then they see the benifit in how people can eco mod their cars to get better fuel economy out of them.

Originally Posted by NickelB NL

Thats "cool". I bet that when you tell those guys that it also makes the cars faster they would also do it to their cars. Maybe gain a couple tenths. If you use 15% less energy what would 600 700 hp gain? I know the percentage would be less

Some of them already know that. I saw many cars with their side mirrors removed and blocked off. Several cars sported partial or full grill blocks and other areo mods. Meanwhile others ran without front bumpers and probably hurt them a couple 10ths of a second...

One areo mod I do not see on here yet are 6-10 large 3 to 4 inch holes being drilled in the rear bumper cover. I know in our world having a full belly pan and or boat tail is ideal, but this might be benifitial too. I was told the rear bumper to many cars act as a parachute, traps air, and creates drag. I would guess it is a cheap way to let air escape or flow through the rear bumper.

[bobo333]

One areo mod I do not see on here yet are 6-10 large 3 to 4 inch holes being drilled in the rear bumper cover. I know in our world having a full belly pan and or boat tail is ideal, but this might be benifitial too. I was told the rear bumper to many cars act as a parachute, traps air, and creates drag. I would guess it is a cheap way to let air escape or flow through the rear bumper.

I was planning to do that on my old car (Barina aka Metro) but i sold the car before i got around to it, i wondered why it wasnt more common on here, just because its not as effective as a belly pan or are there other reasons?

[NickelB NL]

Originally Posted by bobo333

I was planning to do that on my old car (Barina aka Metro) but i sold the car before i got around to it, i wondered why it wasnt more common on here, just because its not as effective as a belly pan or are there other reasons?

I think it's because it helps only a little. And keeps alot of drag. Bypassing it with a belly pan is far more effective.