echo bellypan install with pics and template

[boarder4life]

I was thinking of an aluminum like material as it is nice and light, and it can always be annodized to be smoother. Plus it gives the benefit of welding on the "fins" to help with directing the wind.
I haven't had a chance to slide under the car yet so i am not sure what the mounting points would be, but i'm sure ones can always be welded on drilled through.

[Wonderboy]

Nice work - I would love to see some coast-down testing results and an estimated Cd reduction from this (and hopefully more!) aero modding. I was reading about the echo last week, and was surprised to learn how low its drag coefficient is (.29), and how easy it would be to aeromod this to .25 territory. I wouldn't think about getting rid of that car if I were you. I predict this car being quite a hot commodity for people who realize the importance of this information - I can see echos being sold off on the cheap after people who bought new ones put 70k-100k miles on them. Then you've got a nice base perfect for "low hanging fruit" aero mods and a reasonably lightweight 2020lbs for all of the modern safety features it has. According to wikipedia there were only 153,809 echos sold in the US throughout its 6 year production, which is not a lot. If I found one with a body in good shape for under 1,000 and a blown motor, I'd buy it. I can think of some exciting engine swaps for this to make it a beastly force of MPG.

[moonmonkey]

its to hard to install and remove my belly pans for aba coast down testing, but i have been keeping my fuel logs for years, and i do the same commute for 15 years so after 5-10 tanks thru i will know the benifit,, i also trust aba costdown testing alot more than my method,, but i will be doing skirts,mirror delete and an extended decklid like fusion 999 if i extend it far enough behind the car 14-18 inches i think it will allow air to reattach and hopfully reduce drag ,, on these i promise i Will do aba costdown testing.

[wildfire8]

moommonkey have you had a problem with the belly pan not letting the air that comes in to engine bay out? It happened to me where it felt like was getting slowed down. And how far back is your belly pan going? Mine is going from my from bumper to about the middle of my driver seat. I had to cut an exhaust vent for my belly pan to let the air flow out the engine bay and back in to the slip stream.

[vtec-e]

I had to do that with mine as my intercooler temps went up and FE went down.


ollie

[wildfire8]

Originally Posted by vtec-e

I had to do that with mine as my intercooler temps went up and FE went down.


ollie

What kind of car are you driving?

[moonmonkey]

i have not felt any extra wind resistance, as a matter of fact i have the best mpg to date after installing the pans front and rear, 51.52mpg U.S. i did not seal up the front wheel wells so i guess the air comes out there, well enough to not cause drag. i also did a complete grill block on my upper grill, and have had no heating problems yet,, but i have not had this all installed but for a week or so, so the summer might require some changes, i am going to do a middle pan that will connect the rear pan and the front pan,,im going to use the wire mesh from home depot used for stucco installation under the cat converter and resinator, the muffler runs cool enough to be in contact with the coroplast (no melting so far), as far as where mine ends id say right at the fronseat for the front pan and at the rear axel for the rear one.

[wildfire8]

Originally Posted by moonmonkey

i have not felt any extra wind resistance, as a matter of fact i have the best mpg to date after installing the pans front and rear, 51.52mpg U.S. i did not seal up the front wheel wells so i guess the air comes out there, well enough to not cause drag. i also did a complete grill block on my upper grill, and have had no heating problems yet,, but i have not had this all installed but for a week or so, so the summer might require some changes, i am going to do a middle pan that will connect the rear pan and the front pan,,im going to use the wire mesh from home depot used for stucco installation under the cat converter and resinator, the muffler runs cool enough to be in contact with the coroplast (no melting so far), as far as where mine ends id say right at the fronseat for the front pan and at the rear axel for the rear one.

I have my wheel wells open too but sill felt drag. My belly pan touched part of my exhaust and it melted it a bit but never melted all the way threw.

[moonmonkey]

i have a complete upper grill block ,maybe it reduces the air coming into the engine bay enough to not, induce drag on my car.16 " of exposed radiator is a racing spec, i only have 105 hp, so i dont need a big frontal opening,, im looking at blocking 1/3 of my lower grill opening as well, i have a scangauge so i can moniter temps,,,as of right now i stay around 185 F when at stops it might go as high as 190 F .

[vtec-e]

Originally Posted by wildfire8

What kind of car are you driving?

A 1.4 turbo diesel yaris. It's a little rocket!

ollie