Makeing an efficent freeway flyer.

[groundflyer]

I am contemplating figuring out a way to have an swamp cooler setup so that I can cool the cabin when the air is 100F outside (at 20% humidity,) without compromising FE.

Swamp coolers are great cooling but whats your plan on the wind drag?

[razor02097]

Instead of a swamp cooler consider a cool shirt. (make one)

http://www.coolshirt.com/

Maybe something like this seat cover...

Icewater-cooled seat cover. - Insight Central: Honda Insight Forum

[wmjinman]

Originally Posted by razor02097

Instead of a swamp cooler consider a cool shirt. (make one)

Industrial CoolShirt

Maybe something like this seat cover...

Icewater-cooled seat cover. - Insight Central: Honda Insight Forum

Hey razor, that is brilliant!!! My Suzuki Swift doesn't have a/c either, and with the size and slope of the windows, gets horribly hot inside during the summer. I think the idea in the second link would be just perfect!! Maybe it would even entice the "better half" to ride in that car more if she could be cooler.

[NeilBlanchard]

A few years ago, I had a cloth tube that was filled with gelatinous beads - soak it in water and the beads swell up and soften. Tie that around your neck like a neckerchief and as the water evaporates, you are cooled very effectively.

[H-Man]

Originally Posted by groundflyer

I am contemplating figuring out a way to have an swamp cooler setup so that I can cool the cabin when the air is 100F outside (at 20% humidity,) without compromising FE.

Swamp coolers are great cooling but whats your plan on the wind drag?

I plan on not having the traditional hanging out the window setup. I plan on using something more aerodynamic. I may just bite the bullet and run the AC, it shouldn't hurt my FE anymore than the brake peddle does.

I don't trust the pump on single runs, I find that the pumps have a habit of clicking early, I need many tanks to get an accurate reading.

[brucepick]

I got a pair of wooden beaded seat pads when my a/c finally died late last summer.

[LeanBurn]

Aerocivic - Honda Civic modifications for maximum gas mileage - aerocivic.com gets wicked fuel economy 50mpg at 90mph. If you want to go fast and get fuel economy, that is pretty much what its going to take for aero.

[H-Man]

I'm reluctant to slow down because I'm also documenting this for my physics class. I want to show that it is possible to get good fuel economy without going any slower, and then once that is established, drop my speed and report the results of slowing down (with and without aero mods.)
My target at 55 MPH is 50 MPG on winter gas with real world traffic (55 feels so slow, I'm used to doing "60" which in my car is closer to 70.)

[brucepick]

OK, this might be doable within one semester. You'll need an MPGuino so you can report results of individual trips, not only whole tanks worth of data rolled up.

And if doing it in the Corolla (or nearly any car aside from a Prius or a 1st generation Insight), you'll need some serious aero mods plus low rolling resistance tires, run at high pressure. Think of the sidewall max pressure imprint as a starting point.

Read up on these topics in the Aerodynamics subforum. And pay attention to "aerohead" when you read his posts. He's the aero guru.

Grill block. Basic. You need a digital temp gauge to make sure you don't choke off too much radiator air flow.

Air dam and side skirts. OR: Belly pan from front bumper to firewall, further back if you can. But that front segment gives you the most gain. I prefer the pan to the air dam + side skirts.

Flat wheel covers. Attaching them is the toughest trick but solutions have been found.

Kamm back extension for the roofline if its a coupe or sedan. If its a wagon you may need another car. The aero losses at the rear are very huge and a good Kamm helps a lot. Just think of the car as a piston rushing through the air, sucking a big vacuum behind itself. Consider how much HP and fuel are being used to create that vacuum.

Rear wheel skirts. Usually the tires bulge out beyond the fenders. So avoid bulging the skirts outward too aggressively. You don't want the air flow to break away from your new smooth skin, you want it to follow the skin back to rejoin the fender.

[H-Man]

*Ataches electrodes to thread*
*Puts up lightning rod*
*Realizes that I'm in socal so waiting for lightning will take a while*
Screw it. 3... 2... 1... CLEAR!
*Necros thread*
Change of objective: I'm an engineering major now and being able to say as a project I applied, tested, and evaluated modifications with an ultimate result of a 50% increase in fuel economy over my baseline fuel economy should look at least somewhat interesting to employers looking for an intern.
I'm getting around to installing the MPGunio.
Currently done:
Base timing is increased from 10 degrees BTDC to ~13 degrees BTDC, the max timing that will pass the inspection component of a california smog test.
WAI (only used when temperatures are low enough to allow).
Upper Grill block (only used when temperatures are low enough to allow).
Air dam.
Better tires (Michelin Defenders, 185/70/R14)
NGK spark plugs (seems that the 4A-FE loves ngk and denso spark plugs)
10W-30 Mobil1 Extended performance synthetic oil.
AMSOIL MTG 75W-90 GL4 synthetic oil in gearbox.
Phillips Xtreme Vision low beams (smaller and hotter filimant means that they put more light out the front and don't dim to the point of uselessness when in EOC).
LED interior light. Old draw was 1 amp, new draw is .1 amp (I used 2 LED sign backlight modules at .05 amp each, I could use 1 if my dome light's plastic wasn't opaque from age).
In the works: Rear wheel skirts
Smooth hubcaps if I can find suitable material
New front motor and front exhaust mounts to make drive more doable.
Determine conditions ECU goes into enrichment and have an indicator for when it goes into that.
Determine cooling requirements for car on highway.
Determine fuel cutoff behavior.
Calculate current cd and frontal Area.