Help with my aero mods: 1.8L 05 Auto Toyota Corolla

[blackjackel]

Would it be MORE aerodynamic if I were to mod ONLY my bottom grill? or ONLY my top grill? Which would give me more of an aerodynamic boost?

I'm thinking maybe i can fully block the bottom grill and leave a little of the top grill to cool the engine?

Originally Posted by metroschultz

Hello, Hello,
As MetroMPG said look to AndrewJ, He has modded his civic very well.
http://forum.ecomodder.com/showthrea...ighlight=civic
When I finally get my Metro into the repair bay I will be emulating his aero-mods as well.
His lower grill mod covers both of your issues and he also added a manual control air opening for cooling (after he added the led for fan ops indication).
Good stuff all.
Use the search engine it will be invaluable to your quest('s).
Schultz out.

Thanks for the link, I actually saw and read that entire thread before I joined these forums, I'm very interested in his mods and I might take it upon myself to try some of them (The front bumper dam one in particular, as well as the rear wheel skirts).

I saw the LED thing he hooked up but I never understood exactly how he did it, he says he hooked it up to the fan "relay", does he mean the fuse? he didn't quite post instructions on how to do it, maybe I'll post and ask in his thread sometime.

[Daox]

Blocking the top tends to smooth airflow over the hood better. Without a bellypan the air under the car is never smooth so theres really no benefit to smoothing airflow over the lower grill. However, the lower IMO is still huge compared to what it needs to be. You could get away with partially blocking it, but your going to need to monitor coolant temps with a scangauge or similar device.

[blackjackel]

Originally Posted by Daox

Blocking the top tends to smooth airflow over the hood better. Without a bellypan the air under the car is never smooth so theres really no benefit to smoothing airflow over the lower grill. However, the lower IMO is still huge compared to what it needs to be. You could get away with partially blocking it, but your going to need to monitor coolant temps with a scangauge or similar device.

Ah, so I think I WILL block part of the bottom grill, and from what you're saying, its better to leave a little open in the bottom grill than to leave a little open in the top grill?

This this the general concensus? I Would like one more opinion before I get to modding!


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If others agree with you, then I've made a mockup of my plans:

Please excuse my fantasticly crappy paint skills (if someone can do better via photo shop, please feel free), but here is a mockup of what I plan to do to my corolla, this isn't my car, but you get the idea:

FROM THIS:


TO THIS:

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by blackjackel

This this the general concensus?

This is the general concensus.

Also the general concensus is: be careful and don't melt your engine.

[blackjackel]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

This is the general concensus.

Also the general concensus is: be careful and don't melt your engine.

Right on! haha! Do you think a gap that big is enough, or would I need to make it bigger?

[MetroMPG]

"It depends!" (TM)

Depends on what type of driving you do, how hot it gets where you live, whether you're running the AC.

Better to start larger, monitor your temp gauge and cooling fan, and close it off gradually.

[blackjackel]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

"It depends!" (TM)

Depends on what type of driving you do, how hot it gets where you live, whether you're running the AC.

Better to start larger, monitor your temp gauge and cooling fan, and close it off gradually.

I'll take that advice!!!

You know what i'm going to do? I'm going to go out and see if there's any white packing tape, and tape up the bottom grill in little packingtape width incriments till I get to that hole, and then I'll open it up one by one till I find a big enough hole where my fan dosen't ever kick in, and when I'm done, I'll strip off all the packing tape and do it with vinyl!!

Could you do me a favor and link me to the post where you did your back wheel skirts? I read it at the time but now I can't find it :/

[i_am_socket]

That's almost exactly what I plan on doing. Slightly better GIMP'd image of the intent HERE

I plan on putting a blind-like adjustable panel on the opening to control it. Plain holes are ok and they work, but I like the detail

[edbso]

http://forum.ecomodder.com/showthrea...9.html?p=11795

This is my Matrix. I close off all the front openings in the winter, no problems. It turns into a belly breather.

What you see open is with a belly pan back to the rear axles.

I run the air-conditioning from March to November and the temperature gauge doesn't move beyond the normal range.

I would think that with both grills blocked and the bottom open you will not have a problem.

[BBsGarage]

I was inspired tonight by this thread.

here is my grill block.

from the back



from the front



This was made from a scrap piece of vinyl siding and zip tied to the grill.


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