Good news everyone! I made a grill block!

[Xist]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

It's a unique (!) approach, but in summer temps, a 100% block is too much. You'll need to open it up some.

I was surprised how difficult it was to tape that back on, and then I realized that the air would go between the plastic and the headlights, so I taped over that area.

It is amazingly ugly...

We will see if I can wake up early enough to get a good run in.

[Xist]

Okay, I really do not feel that this is scientific, but I do not know how else to do this:

Originally Posted by Xist

A: 89°F
Precipitation: 0%
Humidity: 7%
Wind: 4 mph [according to Google, not everything can be deduced]

"B:" Tuesday 5:00 AM
69°F
Precipitation: 0%
Humidity: 28%
Wind: 0 mph

I only got 31.0 MPG. Google says that my route was 51.3 miles. Twenty degrees cooler should have made a difference, but my engine was warmer getting on the freeway than it was at any point of "A." Without installing the fan indicator, I do not have any idea what was going on under the hood, but the rise and fall of my temperature seemed to have little to do with my pulses and glides. I figure that I should do a "C" at 5am tomorrow, but I just do not expect my mileage to be significantly worse than what I got this morning.

What do you guys think? Are there any relevant formulae?

[Xist]

Well, without input from anyone that actually knows anything, I will just say that I guess that apparently 69°F is still too warm for a full grill block, and I think that my car needed to spend too much energy keeping itself cool. If I happen to be up at 5am soon, I may go for another drive, but I am ready to retire this thread.

[Xist]

Originally Posted by Xist

Okay, I really do not feel that this is scientific, but I do not know how else to do this:

"B:" Tuesday 5:00 AM
69°F
Precipitation: 0%
Humidity: 28%
Wind: 0 mph

I only got 31.0 MPG.

Still not scientific, in fact, quite possibly a complete waste of time and fuel. I did the route again at sunrise, but it was far warmer, closer to my original run (89°) than my "B," but I was trying to do schoolwork and stuff.

81°F
Precipitation: 0%
Humidity: 18%
Wind: 0 mph

"31.4 MPG." It seems like people use quotation marks (apostrophes--most punctuation in fact" without any comprehension of what they are supposed to do with them, but before I left I replaced my velcro with failed adhesive with 3m tape and reattached my Ultragauge. However, instead of resetting my MPG in seconds, it took me the three blocks to my stop sign. Three-tenths of a mile may not mean much when I drove more than fifty miles after that, almost exclusively on the highway, but I wanted to account for it, so I drove home (31.5) and back (31.5), but when I returned home, it read 31.4. Since my engine was cold and therefore less efficient, I adjusted it down.

I do not think that any of that is scientific, but again, this was a fraction of one percent of the distance that I drove and since I originally got 31.5 MPG at 89°F, this will do. I am going to edit my original post and try to move on.

[gumby79]

Try putting a beach ball or something like that to mimic the shape of the bow of a ocean freight liner that way you are directing the air instead of shoving it

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by Xist

So, do you guys think that the all-in-one upper- and lower-grill block, fog lamp cover, and gap seal will work? Do you think that my engine will be able to keep itself cool at sunrise, or will I need to remove that section? Do you have any suggestions? Have any of you tried blocking this much at once?

The only thing I'm aware of is the IVECO 'Glider' concept 18-wheeler tractor.It has a non-porous cooling system which doesn't rely on a radiator for cooling.
http://preview.turbosquid.com/Previe...e8Original.jpg
The current active radiator shutters are a way to reduce cooling system drag as a function of engine heat flux,operating automatically.It's smart.And it allows those who worship at the alter of design to continue their aesthetic permutations ad infinitum.

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by Xist

Well, without input from anyone that actually knows anything, I will just say that I guess that apparently 69°F is still too warm for a full grill block, and I think that my car needed to spend too much energy keeping itself cool. If I happen to be up at 5am soon, I may go for another drive, but I am ready to retire this thread.

Hucho devotes an entire chapter to heat rejection.His books are invaluable to eco-modders.
My truck has a half-bulbous nose,as per Paul Jaray's 1922 design,as well as a permutation of his cooling system of the same year.It requires a 50-sq-inch opening to cool a 150-bhp engine at 75-mph in the Texas summer heat.
In the fall and winter it can be reduced to 25-sq-inches.

[Xist]

Aerohead, that is a recent picture? I remember driving the Forester and thinking I could raise the end of the hood a full foot without impairing my vision whatsoever (although the 5'00" girl I was dating when I bought the car would have only seen hood! ), but I thought I read on here that it did not help--according to an expert who worked in a wind tunnel for a couple of decades, although I cannot find it now. I did read:

Originally Posted by hoopty_yo

Just an FYI: if you decide to drive around after shimming the hinges, make sure the hooks near the hinges engage somewhat in the front body area. They are there to keep you from eating the hood in a frontal collision.

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...tml#post288388

All that I remember from this failed attempt was realizing that I had the heater on and it blew directly on the Ultragauge, although I do not have any idea of how much heat the car's instrumentation showed, just the Ultragauge itself was overheating.

My car drives fine on level ground without air conditioning about half of the year. I pursued active grill shutters:


but I am not sure that it has ever been cold enough when I drove up a mountain that the hole I cut was adequate without the shutters partially blocking air flow! I realized during our "winter" that I could have temporarily closed the hole (I only cut the top and sides, folding the flap into the grill), but that will need to wait for next year. I will need to look into expanding it when I finally visit mom!

I had planned on laminating additional layers of ABS behind the first one and creating a box around the opening, so that air goes directly into the grill, but I prefer to spend extra money taking women to dinner!

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by Xist

Aerohead, that is a recent picture? I remember driving the Forester and thinking I could raise the end of the hood a full foot without impairing my vision whatsoever (although the 5'00" girl I was dating when I bought the car would have only seen hood! ), but I thought I read on here that it did not help--according to an expert who worked in a wind tunnel for a couple of decades, although I cannot find it now. I did read:


http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...tml#post288388

All that I remember from this failed attempt was realizing that I had the heater on and it blew directly on the Ultragauge, although I do not have any idea of how much heat the car's instrumentation showed, just the Ultragauge itself was overheating.

My car drives fine on level ground without air conditioning about half of the year. I pursued active grill shutters:


but I am not sure that it has ever been cold enough when I drove up a mountain that the hole I cut was adequate without the shutters partially blocking air flow! I realized during our "winter" that I could have temporarily closed the hole (I only cut the top and sides, folding the flap into the grill), but that will need to wait for next year. I will need to look into expanding it when I finally visit mom!

I had planned on laminating additional layers of ABS behind the first one and creating a box around the opening, so that air goes directly into the grill, but I prefer to spend extra money taking women to dinner!

*the photo was taken after the 2012 USFRA World of Speed in AeroStealth's driveway in New Mexico.
*I didn't do A-B testing of the hood blister at Darko in 2014,so I have no idea if it makes a contribution or not.The smoke flow over it looked pretty good.The trailing edges will be widened for this year,to get the air all the way around the A-pillars.
*FIAT showed a benefit for it in a SAE Paper from 1987

*As to the grille opening,if you have abrupt,sharp edges,it will cause what is called a 'vena contracta',which chokes off the flow.Bell-mouthing of each side of the entry will erase this chocking effect.