Grill blocks and mirrors done (and more updates! 7.9.2015)
 

finally got around to doing some mods on the car. i wanted to add the grill block in the front of the grill but after some looking around and questions the majority said it doesn't make that much of a difference. it was easier putting it on the back. so far ive seen an improvement of between .3 to .45L / 100km. below are pics.
the grill inserts were easy to remove from the pumper to make my job easy. black coroplas was used throughout cable ties and some alu tape kept everything in place. excuse the dirt and bird crap but car sleeps outside in this dry dusty winter we get here.
back of grill
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front of grill
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i made an extra flap to deflect some air over a larger part of the radiator. wire poked through the coroplas and bent at a slit made sure it stays
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final product
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the side inserts had small gaps that i covered with tape for now. in future i want to use this as a ram air intake of some kind.
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final product showing top and bottom grill blocks. the top grill block is only v 1.1 and is simply some carbon look vinyl stuck over it. i will improve it when time and motivation allows. also on long distance trips the number plate is easily movable so i can block even more if i need to.
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a 45 degree shelving bracket gave me the perfect angle for a small circular mirror. the mirror here is folded back as far as it can go. done on both mirrors
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a wheel spat to deflect some air around the side of the tires dont think too much gain here
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Looks realy nice. Does yourfocus have that rubber stock airdam on it?

thanks! this is the smaller fiesta not focus. they get sold with them but i bought this car without it. its a common thing to get knocked off on the roads around here. because its so common getting hold of one at a scrapyard or somewhere is impossible. agents want almost equivalent of 200$ for a replacement which is the price of a set of eco tyres. im still thinking about doing a belly pan vs airdam. http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...lts-31929.html

Now i looked better i see it that it is a fiesta. And is sounds expensive for a piece of rubber. Used

i like your spat execution and want to do the to mine. i think if they were extended to cover the tire more there might be a better improvement. frontal area won't be increased because of the tire but will flow better.
here's my high tech drawing of the idea:
http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n...psf0cqoxei.png

the wheel spats are actually plastic paper binding clips from a stationary shop slotted into the bumper. would be easy to extend them with thin hard plastic but the wheels dont sit out as much. wanted to use them on the rear of the car too. http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...ars-30990.html

did some more mods will update shortly. However biggest thing i noticed was with my wiper blades. i first did some tuft testing to see just how much air actually does flow over them. had the old multi brace web type. lots of people here saying there is like a low pressure around the bonnet to windscreen transition and not much airflow over the wipers. i believe it is car specific. after the tufts got ripped off on my daily drive to work at about 70 mph i decided to changed them to the type in the pic and cut that extra darker grey peace on the top off. i then bent my wiper arm handles to better 'tuck' in behind the edge of the bonnet. the wind noise now have DRAMATICALLY reduced at slightly higher speeds. i will do before and after pics soon.

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A belly pan may not just improve the aerodynamics but also eventually protect the undercarriage.

belly pan is made just needs to be fitted after cars water pump gets replaced! pics will be posted soon!

looks good. I started a new grille block but won't post up until finished. it will be real lightweight and hopefully look factory.

thanks! that is my goal too is to keep everything looking stock

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Very cool. I like the use of the vinyl for an upper grille block. I have some and have been thinking along the same lines. I didn't notice, does the Fiesta have fog light cutouts?

the vinyl unfortunately did not work for long. it got brittle in the sun and started cracking and peeling off. the fiesta does have fog light cutouts but my version is not fitted with fogs just a blank piece. the belly pan has been removed for about a month now to do some work under the car and improve the belly pan. (yes i know im getting there) No real gain in mpg have been noticed adding the items just the wind noise reduction.

have an idea using clear lexan(scrap found on side of road), building a vacuum chamber and vacuum forming it to the grille. saw an episode of "full custom garage" when he did it.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...01800829,d.eXY
check it out.

updates! first pic is of the standard bellypan that was on the car. this model fiesta is not sold with a belly pan. the belly pan is not even for this make of a car it has a audi and vw badge on it. this is how i bought the car. i took a peace of wood and coroplas and just cable tied everything together. the back of the coroplas is going to be trimmed to stop it fluttering and im looking into making some vortex generators off the end of it. this is not a full bellypan maybe 70 or 80% and it has been sprayed black since this pic just not fitted yet.
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did some tuft testing as per image on the wiper blades. decided to get some more streamlined wiper blades and bend the arms of the blades so they sit closer to the windscreen and tuck behind the hood bit better. pic shows before and after position of blades and arms.
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before of smaller blade
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after. also the big blocks that they clip into have been trimmed down to the smallest profile possible. as mentioned in a previous post i trimmed the top piece of the wiper blades too.
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difference between the 2 blade types. (not from same car)
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longer blade tucked away. unfortunately i dont have a before pic but this was the biggest gain.
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Grill block v1.2:
coroplas was covered in some black ducktape and cable tied behind the grill. openings were left on the right and left side for the air intake and a some cooling. however i decided to close the left smaller opening completely after the pics were taken.
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there is about a 1 to 1.5cm or half inch gap between the top of the grill and the bonnet. i put a seal strip there so they can sit flush and the covered it in ducktape aswell. if you see closely you can spot the unevenness along the top of the grill. this will be improved some time.
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final product
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nice pic showing all the work. new grill block and tucked away wipers
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once again i am not planning to go crazy with the mods like campacks or covered wheel arches, just simple easy things to help improve the general efficiency and most important keeping the car looking stock. so far gain with all these mods has been between .5 and .6l per 100km. looking forward to adding that bellypan!

Is there any gain to be had by knife edging the leading edge of the wiper arm? That would be simple and quick to do. I am sure it would be minimal improvements, but a lot of minimal starts to add up.

Have you never considered to convert it wiper to a single-blade layout? BTW have you done any mod to the rear wiper?

Update. Car broke down. waterpump bearings collapsed. managed to pick up something was wrong and when the temp suddenly rose i pulled off immediately. Car is at mechanics now.

im sure this will help but the current mods has hidden almost 80% of the wiper blades so im happy as is. another easier solution is to use those paper binder clips i used as wheel spats and just slide them into place at the trailing edge of the bonnet to deflect air over the parts of the blades sticking out the most.

as for the rear wiper i dont think any air gets there as this is a hatchback. but it is old and needs replacing ...sometime. like i said i like keeping things stock. the wife also uses the car from time to time it was actually bought for her and she is not that impressed with these mods. the less she realizes has changed the better

Hatchbacks are often quoted to have higher turbulences at the rear than a sedan.

that is something to look in to. rear aero mods for the car are coming!

But that's not due to the rear wiper :)

Sure, but since a sedan has a smoother flow at its rear end, a wiper is often pointed as unnecessary.

updates. water pump bearings collapsed. got repaired. then welsh plug failed. got that replaced. car is going into retirement. ok not really but this car has 200k kms on and reliability lately is becoming a problem. going to let the wife use it from now on her drive is about a third distance that i do. which means the car is 3 times less likely to break down. i will be using my other car that she usually uses. A 2007 2L MT Huyndai Tucson. will be starting a thread on it soon.

that's one way to not get caught on the side of the road: let someone else drive it. I would fix it first.