List the poor FE parts on your car.

[cighon]

Was thinking of what i want to do with my truck to improve FE: aero cap, remove mudflaps, partial grille block, etc - which are the most common listed on this board. But then i was thinking of those other little/non obvious items that people could overlook-even very small. The one that came to my mind was my rear bumber on my Nissan Frontier, which comes out beyond the back quarter pannel and acts like a scoop on each side of the rear bumper. Anyone have others?

[PaleMelanesian]

Rear bumper - mine hangs down 4-5 inches below the trunk floor in front of it, like a parachute. (the middle portion is not so bad, with the spare tire well filling some of the gap)

Rear window - too steep a drop, and the trunk doesn't extend far enough for good airflow reattachment.

Wheel wells - big gaps around the wheels, the trailing edges stick out just like the front edges, when they could be recessed like the Insight-1.

Grille opening - HUGE. The radiator itself only covers half the space behind it. The other half is only for the AC.

Giant muffler, mounted lengthwise, with its flat ends as the leading and trailing edges.

[95badbird]

which car?

[automd]

Rear window. I am planning to upgrade this one soon.

[RobertSmalls]

Frontal area.

I can fix the drag coefficient, but I can't fix the frontal area.

[MadisonMPG]

ICE engine.

[Clev]

Aero? On the Accord, the windshield wipers stick up into the wind. Huge grille opening. Dinner plate side mirrors. (At least they fold in.) Not-even-slightly-aero underbelly. Dumb pseudo-mudflaps.

On the Ion, there's a one-inch gap between the hood and the body. Slightly more aero mirrors that don't fold in. Spoiler. Huge grille. Non-retractable antenna. Poor-fitting sunroof.

Don't get me started on the Ranger.

[Arragonis]

Biggest FE restriction on my car is me.

Second is the engine. 1.9 Litres with 130hp in a small hatch is too much, more realistic it should be 1.4 litres or less with 75hp and mucho torque. Having said that the Mrs' 2.0/140hp engine makes more FE than mine. Progress I guess.

Third is the weight. I list this third as I could remove the seats and weight, but I do carry 2 others sometimes, wife and child.

Fourth is aero. I'm (still, yawn) planning an upper grill block but it also has a mahoosive lower grill as well as fog light grills, of which about 1/8 actually does anything (feeds the intercooler).

But buying a new car with a smaller and more efficient motor is already 100% less efficient.

[Conklin1979]

Rear bumper acts as a parachute. Side mirrors are an issue as well. Window wipers sticking up in the air flow. A basic tune-up, spark plugs, wires, distributor cap and rotor, can help quite a bit. Wheel bearings can be a problem too, although most cars now have non-serviceable bearings. Tire pressure etc. and everything else everyone has mentioned.

[gone-ot]

#1 detriment -- the weight of the driver!

...basically, every 200 lbs = -1 mpg!