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

[blackjackel]

Current Hypermiling changes/mods:
- Inflated tires to 46PSI (maximum rated tire pressure)
- Changed oil to 0W-20 Synthetic and high-flow oil filter
- took about 5 pounds worth of extra crap out of the car.
- Bought Scan Guage to track FE.
- Inflated tires with pure nitrogen, cosco only inflated to 35, I had to do the remaining 10 PSI with regular air at gas station so not 100% pure.
- Licence plate moved, now flat against the bumper (see page two of this post, same thread as hefty bag mod)
-Smooth hubcaps (thanks cfg83!)

Planned Hypermiling changes/mods:
- Buy Inclinometer/clenometer to track optimal gliding degree slopes.
- Buy cold air intake with high performance filter.
- Rear wheel skirts
- Lowering the ca

Possible EXTREME Hypermiling changes (really not sure about these yet):
- Fabricating and installing (or buying aftermarket) under body panel.
- Front wheel Skirts


Hypermiling changes I've decided NOT to do
- Boat tail (I Live in Los Angeles, parking would become impossible)

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If you know of any more modifications I can do please let me know.



Links I'm looking at:
http://ecomodder.com/blog/2008/02/07...-a-1992-civic/ (I wouldn't mind making an aerocorolla)
http://forum.ecomodder.com/showthrea...290.html?t=290
http://forum.ecomodder.com/showthrea...978.html?t=978
http://forum.ecomodder.com/showthrea...amics-312.html
http://www.metrompg.com/posts/grille...ing-part-2.htm
http://forum.ecomodder.com/showthrea...s-80.html?t=80 <--- rear wheels skirt example
http://forum.ecomodder.com/showthrea...103.html?t=103 <--Rear wheel skirt howto


I have completed two aerodynamic mods today, both of them took less than an hour to complete collectively. The first mod was moving my licence plate up a little and taking off the licence plate holder.
The second mod was a grill block done with a hefty trash bag. I was GOING to block it from BEHIND the grill, but I figured that it would still create SOME aerodynamic drag if the wind were to go in the little
groves and be "cupped", it would be much more aerodynamic if it was blocked from OUTSIDE the grill, which is what I ended up doing with the hefty bags...

Licence placement mod:

This is how it looked prior to mod, notice how it stuck out a little under the bumper, you could
see a bend in the metal becuase of the air pushing against it all the time...


This is with the plate/holder off, if I didn't censor my plate number, you can see the old screws and the little screw I made, I simply used the old screw to "drill" a hole in the bumper with the screwdriver, it wasnt hard to do at all.


This is the final result, the licence is flat against the bumper and no parts of it are sticking out anywhere.



Hefty Trash Bag Top Grill block mod:

In this second mod, I used two white hefty trash bags to block the grill that is right infront of my engine.

This is what the grill looks like unaltered:


Here you can see the grill is made of two pieces, these pieces are clipped on to eachother,
it took me 15-20 minutes just to unclip them, it wasn't easy but this one part took the longest out of this whole mod.
I will be putting the trashbag in between the two pieces so that the silver part will still be visible, you can see the trashbags i'm using here:


Here you can see that the bag ALOST fits, forcing me to use a 2nd bag to line the edges to make it look "complete"


Here you see the two side pices and the middle piece, I just layed them flat against the grill and taped them from the back:


Here you see my horrible tape job on the back (but this is just temporary as the pices clip on to eachother and this will hold them up


This is what JUST the black grill part with the trash bag over it looks like:


See the little holes in the black grill? this is where the silver part clips in, I'll be cutting holes in the bag for the silver clips to fit through...
Then I will "sandwich" them together and this should hold them tightly without the tape on the back (but I'll leave the tape on there)


After cutting holes in the bag for the silver clips to go through, i clipped the silver part back on:


Here is the finished result:


And another angle zoomed out, dosen't look too bad at all, should be weather proof, and since its sandwiched between the silver and black
part, it shouldn't fall off even after the tape loses grip! Not bad for a 30 minute job eh?




I drove over to Costco and back (about $1 worth of gas both ways), and noticed NO CHANGE WHATSOEVER in my water temp, it went up to 186 and stayed there. So its a good mod methinks

Going to be doing my hubcaps the same way I think, will update here when I do that.

[blackjackel]

The next mod I want to do is to block the lower grill, as you can see from these two pictures:





The lower grill consists of the actual openings and a "cupping" "ditch" shape that leads up to the actual opening.

I was thinking that if I blocked the openings themselves right at the openings it would help with aerodynamics but there would still be that "ditch" indentation that would "cup" the air and reduce aerodynamics, my bumper would still be cupping the air....

I want to block off that ENTIRE indentation, I won't even bother to block the actual holes since I want to cover that ENTIRE ditch and make it as smooth as possible.

My question is.... HOW? What should I use?

I was thinking I should use a sheet of some sort, something solid enough not to bend back into the ditch under high air speed yet something soft enough to shape into a curve so the bumper looks as "natural" as possible (as if it didn't have anything in the bottom to begin with"

Suggestions?

[SVOboy]

Looks great! Welcome to ecomodder...

I won't comment on the grill block since I recently had some issues with mine,

Be sure to check out our hypermiling tips!

[trikkonceptz]

After seeing the picture of your entire bumper I would cover from the lower valence up to where you license plate is in order to mak the smoothest transition. As far as material, consider vinyl, like a decal it comes in rolls wide enough to cover the area, is relatively strong, non permanent and non marking. I would first use some foam behind it to give it something to push against in wind, but that should be the most economical way to do it. Just leave some room for the radiator to breath ...

[blackjackel]

Originally Posted by trikkonceptz

After seeing the picture of your entire bumper I would cover from the lower valence up to where you license plate is in order to mak the smoothest transition. As far as material, consider vinyl, like a decal it comes in rolls wide enough to cover the area, is relatively strong, non permanent and non marking. I would first use some foam behind it to give it something to push against in wind, but that should be the most economical way to do it. Just leave some room for the radiator to breath ...

I don't think I need to worry about the radiator too much... I think that since I don't have an underbody panel (yet) that the air will be sloshing around under the car plenty enough to keep the radiator cool... though I could be wrong, which is why I'm seeking advice

Vinyl huh? decal you say? That gives me an idea.... You know, I could cover the whole damn thing with one giant bumper sticker (with foam behind it like you suggested)... If I can find whatever bumper stickers are made form I can get one big roll and just slap it on! Instant non-permanent fix!

[MetroMPG]

I would not block the entire grille. While your max temp may have remained constant, the cooling fan may also be coming on more to keep the temp stable.

The fan is a relatively high amp accessory, and the added load could negate (possibly worsen) your fuel economy compared to the aero gains of the grille block.

That said, welcome to the site.

[blackjackel]

Thanks to everyone for the welcomes

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

I would not block the entire grille. While your max temp may have remained constant, the cooling fan may also be coming on more to keep the temp stable.

The fan is a relatively high amp accessory, and the added load could negate (possibly worsen) your fuel economy compared to the aero gains of the grille block.

That said, welcome to the site.

is there any way to detect the fan kicking on? I didn't hear it come on even after I rolled down my windows from getting off the freeway, and when its on I usually hear it cause its really loud...

[MetroMPG]

AndrewJ recently added an LED to let him know when his fan was coming on. I think it's an excellent idea: http://forum.ecomodder.com/showthrea...+LED#post22314

[blackjackel]

Ok so i've been doing some research on grill blocking and this seems like it would be an EXCELLENT material for grill blocking, not just for me but for many others:

http://www.google.com/products?q=vin...&sa=N&start=10

now we gotta figure out a way to get smaller rolls or just how much of it I want :/

edit:

Just called fedex kinkos, they charge by the square foot if you go to an imaging department, i'm still trying to figure out price.

Side idea: This would be absolutely PERFECT if you were to cut circles and simply stick them on your existing hubcaps, it would work for pretty much ANY hub cap so long as there are flat surfaces to stick it to!

[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.