A long distance test

[aerohead]

Good to have photos!
Since you don't have much time,here's my 2-cents:
* do the wheel covers as mentioned
* figure out a way to do the rear wheel skirts,forget about the front for now
* here's the big one,get a top quality bicycle rack which can easily and securely attach to the hatch and create a short (a couple feet would do okay) boat-tail extension which can attach over the bike rack.
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The wheel covers and skirts will help with clean airflow to the tail.And the boat-tail will give you the biggest bang for the buck.
You want to end up having the roof look like the Mercedes 'Boxfish' concept car(2008),Renault Vesta II concept car(1987),Chevrolet Express concept(1987),VW 1-liter car (2009),Cadillac CTS Wagon (2010),Honda Insight (2010),AeroCivic (2005),--------------------------------------- push the back as far as you dare.
You can use the 'Aerodynamic Streamlining Template' to help with the contour.The sides will want to gently curve in towards the middle of the car also.

[FXSTi]

Cassem,
They do share a platform, but the Mazda is sexier. Mudflaps might bring the back bumper out enough to add side skirts, at least they look like they do on the Fiesta (yeah, I got mudflaps hanging in the breeze)

Have you done a grill block yet?

Kirk

[Cassem]

Aerohead: That is an awesome idea! I will definitely try to do that with the bike rack. By "Do the wheel covers as mentioned" do you mean with duct tape? Im looking into the better options.

Kirk: Right now she is completely stock. The grille block is planned for tomorrow or Monday, since I don't have to work either of my jobs. I look into mud flaps, thanks.

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by Cassem

Aerohead: That is an awesome idea! I will definitely try to do that with the bike rack. By "Do the wheel covers as mentioned" do you mean with duct tape? Im looking into the better options.

Kirk: Right now she is completely stock. The grille block is planned for tomorrow or Monday, since I don't have to work either of my jobs. I look into mud flaps, thanks.

I sprang or the bang-on style MOONies but the pizza pans would be very economical.Or plastic wheel covers taped over.You've got options.Let your wallet help decide.The wheel covers will help smooth the air to the tail,so any way you can do it won't matter to the air.

[Cassem]

Aerohead: Ill stop by the ghetto looking tire and hub place on Monday. If he has spinners, I don't see why he wouldn't have moonies.

[Sven7]

Originally Posted by Cassem

As far a rear wheel skirts go, the rear bumper actually starts closer to the center of the car that the outside of the tire. A skirt would also have to extend the width of the bumper. Ideas?

On my Probe I put a couple scraps of coroplast behind the bottom of the skirt to space it out a bit.

Don't use duct tape on the paint- blue painters tape might work well enough if you use long enough segments.

Here is a rear skirt prototype I almost did but didn't know how to attach it at the time. I really don't care about how bad the car looks so I used duct tape for the final version.

The elegance of this setup is that it keeps attached flow all the way back instead of breaking directly to the rear of the wheel arch. You could even overlap this with your boattail. Anyway, I look forward to seeing your mods. If you like you can take a peek at the Probe in its current state when you get to Detroit



Also consider making a belly pan out of large coroplast sheets or some sort of metal sheet. You can attach it to the frame using existing holes.

[Cassem]

Sven ... of COURSE I want to see it! I was just reading the build thread for it.

[Cassem]

As per Aerohead's recommendation I applied the Aerodynamic Streamlining Template to my car. I made sure to keep the aspect ratio exactly the same ... this is about the extent of my photoshoping skills.



Im off to the store in a bit to look at options for the wheel covers, grille block, and skirts.

[Cassem]

Ive made a little bit of progress. I was hoping to do more but we are forecast to have a big storm come through in a few hours so Id rather not start something I can't finish.
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Before I started with the grille block. The nice people at Mazda already put in a nice partial block. It really isn't very substantial.


After I applied a liberal amount of black duct tape. Im doing this the ghetto way! If I was going to actually make a block for the inside of the grille I would have to take apart a lot of the front end


Im thinking of rounding off these bad lads with painters tape covered in silver shiny tape. I never use these lights anyways, they don't make much of a difference.


--
I attempted a bidirectional test using a 55mph stretch of highway and my cruise control. I set the cruise control, reset my factory installed mpg gauge at the same spot on the highway and went for an exactly one mile drive.
Before the grille block: 39.8 average
After the grille block: 45.6 average

... these numbers can't be right. I did close off a huge area but it's like giving Michael Phelps orthodontics to fix his overbite, sure it will help performance but by how much?

[Sven7]

Use this for the kammback; you'll get more accurate measurements



For the grille block and stuff, I'd buy some thin acrylic or other bendable plastic and tape it onto the bumper from the painted lower lip all the way up to the matte black bumper bar. That way it will be exceedingly smooth and the air won't hit the little flanges on the edge of the grille. Start from the sides and do the center last so the air doesn't get trapped.

If I'm not being clear let me know and I can Photoshop it!