Aeromods for 2001 VW Beetle - Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum

bdufur · 12-03-2011, 01:04 AM

Finally getting to put some of these great ideas to practice with a 2001 VW Beetle I just purchased. It is the 5 speed, TDI.

I was looking for a Jetta but found this nice Beetle and couldn't pass it up - was surprised to find out the Beetle isn't quite as streamlined as I would have expected, based on discussions in other threads.

I'm looking to clean up the air turbulence on the aft with a spoiler. I spend about 2 hours a day on the road, averaging 50-60 mph, so it should give me plenty of opportunity to tinker and see what works best.

I've looked at Ernie's excellent VW wing elsewhere on the site, but will be posting some other VW spoilers I've found on the internet just in case anyone else is in the same boat looking for options and ideas for their Beetle too.

Also, I'm hoping to discuss and highlight some other aero mods for the Beetle on this thread too.

bdufur · 12-03-2011, 01:07 AM

Car below is not mine! (I wish!) Will post pics of my car soon.

It seems there are a few approaches to cleaning up the air flow on the back of these Beetles, which are notorious (I now know) for having some turbulence issues out back (don't we all). Here are a few spoiler approaches I've found surfing around. Most are probably superficial but it is interesting to see the different approaches.

bdufur · 12-03-2011, 01:08 AM

Closer shot.

bdufur · 12-03-2011, 01:09 AM

A similar (if not the same) approach:

bdufur · 12-03-2011, 01:10 AM

bdufur · 12-03-2011, 01:11 AM

bdufur · 12-03-2011, 01:11 AM

Here's the VW factory spoiler.

bdufur · 12-03-2011, 01:16 AM

Based on the tear-drop concept, it seems a wing/spoiler/tail would follow more of this angle. What do you think? I can't really build anything that goes out beyond my bumper, but this angle sure doesn't look like anything I'm seeing in the other photos.

bdufur · 12-03-2011, 01:22 AM

Based on the tear-drop concept, it does appear that DieselBeetle's kammback design is probably the way for me to go.

Any suggestions from the peanut gallery are appreciated before I get out there with the coroplast and cold beer!

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...ack-17012.html

bdufur · 12-03-2011, 01:34 AM

This thread has some good information on the Beetle's unimpressive aerodynamics.

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...why-12732.html