Front air blocker, anybody ever get pulled over?

[MechEngVT]

Originally Posted by Sean T.

I did find out that it is illegal in MI to put your car in neutral on a down grade slope....
(doesn't say anything about turning the car off though.... )

That's illegal here in VA too but does it stop me? I would say it's pretty hard to get caught doing this unless you have the misfortune of being unable to restart and/or re-engage drive when you are in the immediate vicinity of a municipality-armed revenue generator.

For you my concern would be your transmission's ability to survive EOC in neutral. Most autos require that the input shaft be powered by the engine to run the fluid pump to circulate ATF for lubrication and cooling. My 5spd manual spins gears in a bath of motor oil and ropes/splashes itself lubed. That's a world of difference right there...I would neutral-coast in an auto (most pumps turn in N but not P btw) but only EOC in a manual.

[lunarhighway]

letting some air end up underneath the car is not always a bad thing some of the most streamiled cars have a "tunnel" underneath so some air can pass under the car.

even with a less than perfect underside i think there's a point where de added frontal area will be worse than letting some air get under the car and escape that way... especially if this is used for cooling etc.

i'm quite sure that sort of thing would be illegal over here, but you can't do much to your car where i live. still the basic shape doesn't look to odd, so maybe a little cleaner tape job and a quick coat of black paint can make it seem less like cardboard...

given the color of your car perhaps just a black strip at the bottom of the dam can make it seem as if your car has more ground clearance than it actually has.

camouflage is a great survival strategy

[Sean T.]

Well, I have driven almost 100 miles with it on, and the temp gauge has never risen over 1/4-1/3.

Mom and Dad said it had to come off this morning but I snuck out of the house with it still on, but I'll need to take it off tonight most definitely....

Hopefully I will get an acurate reading from the couple of gallons I used with it on. :-\

[95badbird]

sooo, ask your parents why they are so down on the economy?
Tell em, you are trying to save them and everyone else money.

[Sean T.]

They just don't understand... They say "but you'll get pulled over" "you're going to cause an accident" blah blah blah...

I drove past at least a dozen cops today (close range too) and none of them even cared.

It did pour rain today though... while I was in class too... so now it's ruined.

I overheard my mom talking about the 55 mph nation-wide max speed limit proposal... "If people want to save gas... they should do 55 by themselves, and the people who don't care can go faster." Next time she goes over 55 I'm going to ask her for gas money and use the backup that she obviously "doesn't care" about gas prices. LOL.

[Sean T.]

Well, the fuel log doesn't lie

[azraelswrd]

It's a 0.9 mpg increase but your fuel amount was less than half of what you normally use. I'd keep testing again later and see if it was really the cardboard OR the placebo effect of the cardboard on your driving habits. I'm not even sure if +0.9 MPG is even significant with 5 gallons of gas.

(this is why using a Scangauge/MPGuino for instanenous data feedback for testing is more convenient than tank refills)

[slurp812]

Originally Posted by Sean T.

but you sir, are a professional.

Mine is cardboard held on with tape........... that's what gets me worried.

LOL!

[Sean T.]

I would love a scangauge.... *hint hint, christmas is coming...

I can't afford one though... and Mom and Dad said no to the cardboard, and I wasn't even able to get away with it for 2 full days.

Maybe if I go away to college next year or something?

[ankit]

Originally Posted by Sean T.

Well, the fuel log doesn't lie

sorry to burst your bubble but those gains are negligible. keep trying though.

I think your parents just don't want to be the parents that the neighbors talk about saying, "the parents that bought their kid a cardboard car."