My Beast (4x4 Suburban)

[ecomodded]

I remember reading that a car would gain 2-3 mpg with wheel skirts so taking the size of the wheel wheels in question i upped the value to 4-5 mpg. I must admit it sounds unreasonable, I am going to change my estimate to 3-4mpg

[Saskwatchian]

Originally Posted by ecomodded

I remember reading that a car would gain 2-3 mpg with wheel skirts so taking the size of the wheel wheels in question i upped the value to 4-5 mpg. I must admit it sounds unreasonable, I am going to change my estimate to 3-4mpg

And this is why MPG is a stupid measurement for fuel saving.

Going from 30 to 33 mpg will save you 3 gallons in 1000 miles.

Going from 15 to 18 mpg will save you 11 gallons in 1000 miles.

3 MPG change does not mean the same thing on one vehicle as another.

If the wheelskirts were to save about the same amount on the suburban as a 30mpg car the difference would be 0.5-0.7 mpg, not an insignificant amount on a large vehicle.

[oil pan 4]

Thats why I like picking up 1mpg here and there.

[Gealii]

I guess that is why there are a lot of heavily modded civics metros etc compared to trucks or carboats. you don't have to do alot to gain mpg numbers in bigger vehicles to save more money than that money on a smaller one

[Sporty Modder]

In my view it is all about % gained.
In a truck that gets 15mpg 10% is 1.5mpg increase.
In a car that gets 30 mpg 10% is 3mpg increase.
And a car that gets 60mpg10% is 6 mpg.
As of right now without any mods to my truck I am getting 30% over epa, in my celica I was getting that same 30% but I was getting 30mpg vs16 mpg.
I would much rather spend half as much to drive to work.

[Sporty Modder]

Originally Posted by ecomodded

I remember reading that a car would gain 2-3 mpg with wheel skirts so taking the size of the wheel wheels in question i upped the value to 4-5 mpg. I must admit it sounds unreasonable, I am going to change my estimate to 3-4mpg

That was probably 10% or so def reasonable, to the truck, say 15% improvement(large wheelwells) and 1.5-2.5 mpg could be possible

[ecomodded]

Maybe wheel covers along with smooth hubcaps grill block and belly pan you could save 5 mpg which in your trucks case would be large, a 41% improvement.
With your thirsty truck almost every mod or driving tactic is low hanging fruit, gain 1.2 mpg and that's a 10% savings.
65+ Vehicle modifications for better fuel economy - EcoModder.com

[ecomodded]

Originally Posted by Saskwatchian

If the wheelskirts were to save about the same amount on the suburban as a 30mpg car the difference would be 0.5-0.7 mpg, not an insignificant amount on a large vehicle.

Yikes if that's the case it would not change much would it.
I think the big ole truck may show a higher gain then your conversion numbers do, threw size differences and fact that there is greater room for improvement, i think..
Food for thought, I still have to make some wheel skirts for my car, may be a year before i get it done..

[slowmover]

Originally Posted by Saskwatchian

And this is why MPG is a stupid measurement for fuel saving.

Going from 30 to 33 mpg will save you 3 gallons in 1000 miles.

Going from 15 to 18 mpg will save you 11 gallons in 1000 miles.

3 MPG change does not mean the same thing on one vehicle as another.

If the wheelskirts were to save about the same amount on the suburban as a 30mpg car the difference would be 0.5-0.7 mpg, not an insignificant amount on a large vehicle.

It's the percentage gain to the average mpg that matters. And that average, preferably, covers more than one year of driving where no major changes in the life of the owner/operator occurred. December was the same as the previous January for what, where and how.

And it isn't the "gallons saved" so much as it is the reduction in the fuel portion of the ownership/operating cpm of the vehicle..

X percentage gain translates to Y cpm

We think that fuel economy is important, but it is relative to all other costs. A reduction to 15-cpm on fuel from 17 is great . . but is the rest of the vehicle an 87-cpm burden?

The modifications which positively affect reliability & longevity (components such as tires & brakes), etc, is where the money is.

Fuel economy is just a nice way to track the thing.

And some manner or methods of "saving fuel" are detrimental to overall vehicle condition, performance and life. They are not, thus, "economical even though a bit of fuel has been saved.



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[Sporty Modder]

I will do some testing, going to pick up some coroplast and some duct tape.

Was talking to some coworkers today and they were amazed at the mpg I am getting