Possible Thesis Project: Fuel Efficient Aftermarket Aero Kits: What do you think?
 

Hi everyone,

My name is Cody, I have followed this site for many years but never registered or was active on here. I am a huge Japanese car enthusiast and have always been into the aftermarket side of things, more for enthusiast/spirited driving, track racing and time attack racing. I have built and designed many body kit components for the Acura RSX.

Long story short I am in the middle of completing a graduate degree in Transportation design from the Art Center College of Design here in Pasadena California. I have to complete a thesis project, and while my heart would be set to build some badass time attack track car aero, I feel like that has been done so many times and I would like to find a new market.

So I am contemplating if doing a thesis on creating a line of universal and platform specific aero parts that would target people that circulate this site (eco modder enthusiasts) and or possibly attract some general non car enthusiasts as well with the design.

My biggest question is, could there be a market for this? I know about moon craft and other companies that have designed and manufactured (not diy) parts like these. But are they unwanted, too expensive, not functional enough or what?

Reference:
http://www.mooncraft.jp/yuratakuya/g...prius02-02.jpg
http://www.mooncraft.jp/yuratakuya/g...prius02-01.jpg


I have also experimented with alternative materials as well- I made a front bumper design, plug, negative mold and casted it using paper pulp years back:

http://honda-tech.com/attachments/ho...aperbumper.jpg
http://honda-tech.com/attachments/ho...1-img_5597.jpg

and also recently I have done some surface modelling and 3d scanning in alias and have 5 axis milled some of my designs, similar to how the popular "Tra-Kyoto" "Rocket Bunny" Japan kits are made. My Fender in foam, right from the 5 axis:

https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.n...1c386159aa99d6
https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.n...f72f859178f733

Aside from the crazy designs, I enjoyed the process of alternative materials and also surface modelling.

If anyone has thoughts on this topic (hypermiling + Fuel Efficient Aero Parts) as a thesis project I would be interested to hear your thoughts :)

I'd say the market exists, but you've got to convince people the price of your kit will be recouped in fuel savings down the road.

And you'll have to convince people that the kits actually look good. This is the major hurdle. Sell people a $2k set of flashy chrome wheels that'll kill their fuel economy and will cost them many thousands more in higher-priced tires to fit their new rims... and they won't bat an eyelid. Sell them a fuel-economy improving body-kit that makes their car look like an Insight... and... :(

Hi spray2020 - welcome to the forum.

I believe niky nailed it:

To that end, you may be better off focusing on the thirsty end of the market -- pickup trucks & SUV's -- whose owners may have more money to spend, and where the cost of any mods will be recovered faster than in more traditional economy cars.

Ironically, while hybrid owners may have money to spend, the ROI on ecomodding an already efficient car is very long.

Thus we see a lot of DIY coroplast & duct tape mods around here.

Also: as a commercial vendor, you'd need to be able to demonstrate that the mods work, to avoid getting the snake oil label. Documentation that shows controlled coast-down testing or wind tunnel time would be a must.

There is an the issue with the "cheapskate" market segment in that it has to more than pay for itself. That is more than just the cost of the kit; many won't install it themselves so there is that cost plus paint too.

I'm afraid the real motivator for this sort of thing is Bling and those customers are willing to fork over crazy money for that. :rolleyes:

Maybe the ticket is to make Bling that is also aero efficient.

I believe that I have seen a few ideas like this on these forums and it has been suggested to start with the F150, aren't there more of those than any other vehicle?

It does not get very good fuel economy, either.

Has to be reasonably priced
has to increase the visual appeal of the vehicle
has to be relatively simple to install, both for the diy'ers and time taken for installation at a shop
for trucks? Make it in camo/diamond plate/flat black, etc

I really really wish someone made OEM level kits for the chevy vans.

Style will sell 100X more than function. Make that 1000X more.

If you could get somebody to run your kit at Bonneville AND get the ricers to copy Bonneville streamliners, then you might have a chance.

Lots of issues to consider in getting the attention of the public and then getting them to part with their money. There seems to be much left undone in the belly pan area as far as the domestic manufacturers are concerned. The underside of light trucks is a real disaster in aerodynamics. The belly pan areas would not require much at all in the way of paint and would not require a ton of body work to install. With all of the sleek aerodynamic bodies being produced today, the belly pan area still leaves much room for improvement.

There's a good point, focusing on fleet vehicles like full size vans as well as trucks. If ROI is decent, stuff like big air dams, side skirts, and wheel skirts could become as popular for fleet vehicles as skirts on semi trailers.

CCS Trans grad here working Alias at the big three. I think it'd be a cool design project, but not an easy business plan. As others said, you'll really have to sell it on the aesthetics side, then say, "by the way it'll increase your MPG by 10%". Almost no one's going to spend hundreds of dollars for unpainted high-MPG body panels.

Look at this- GPRauto 92-95 Civic Closed front end

Without the lip, it would be an awesome ecomodding bumper. It's even good for racing, on a popular platform for both. But for $350, they have only sold six of them (I'd buy one at $50). You need volume to get the cost down, but you need sales to get volume.

My advice would be to build an aero kit for your own car, style it really well (and tastefully), and calculate the fuel savings. If someone wants another, use your leftover plug and make one.

A fun paint scheme helps. You should have seen me rolling around the CCS campus in this...
http://farm8.static.flickr.com/7158/...6dca6d94_m.jpg

Design me one for the 2012-2014 Chevy express! If you can!

Honestly, have you seen the luxury rental party buses running around with big aftermarket bumpers? This is the closest I could find online, but sometimes they actually look pretty aero. It might be worth keeping an eye out. I see one now and then whose bumper looks great for hypermiling.

And again, they're buying the bumpers for style without a thought to fuel economy!

http://images1.showmethead.com/nlarg...g_22699208.jpg

Could use some work, but 80% there?

Sven, I do like that bumper cover, but it definitely costs too much. It is cleaner but similar to what I am doing!

Flood us with numbers and pictures (wind-tunnel or computer simulations) *showing* how much better / lower the overall drag-Cd becomes.

kit
 

See if the California State Film Commission will underwrite a screenplay and film production for a Hollywood blockbuster in the same vein as "The Fast and the Furious", which showcases your aerodynamic kit design;incorporating all the pheromone explosions the Vin Diesel films evoked.Lot's and lot's of sex to the would-be streamliner.
That might create a 'market',where none exists.Male moviegoers will beat a path the the SEMA show in Las Vegas,money in hand,ready to transform their ride into a 'show' version,certain that the Hollywood starlets will soon follow.

There can be only one winner of the fuel economy challenge... Hit the kill switch. Danger to manifold! Belly pan falls off. "Monicaaaa!!!"

Hahaha

Yes. Can your thesis produce a negative result, or does it have to overcome those objections?

The paper mache front bumper is interesting. You could look into 3D printing to overcome the universal/platform specific divide. Also liquid wood, available commercially as Arboform.

I live near Seattle, and what I see is a lot of really expensive hybrid or electric cars (Tesla, Lexus hybrids, Cadillac Escalade hybrid, etc) to show off that the owner is "green". They don't care so much about the economy of the car, as much as they do about the appearance of being an environmentalist.

While it is probably a very small niche market, you may be able to leverage your paper mache molding process and market the body panels as a "green" product for improving your hybrid or electric car. The car owner will never recoup the cost of the body modifications, but if it's just for the image of being green, they may not care.

I have a feeling the OP may have moved on and left the thread for dead, but here's some food for thought.

A guy I know has a 3D printer and is working on a CNC mill. He says the 3D printer is prohibitively expensive and brittle for anything large. For a bumper design, one might mill out a male mold of the part out of foam or styling clay, fiberglass over that for a female plug, and use the glass plug to make the final product.

If you were to work totally analog, you could take a mold off an actual bumper, pack clay into it, scrape, pack, scrape, pack, then continue with the fiberglass as above.

This would cost you the materials and time to make the tooling, but you wouldn't have to spend even more to make a second one. You'd probably save money over 3D printing either way.

any lowering of the profile w/ a kit (and keeping the suspension stock height) WILL (without a doubt) result in banging the front lip into curbs and driveways. PERIOD.

You just cant get around this issue. Car manufacturers are for the most part VERY aware of the requirements set aside by road builders for clearance. The chance that a 'mass appealing' product can gain any significant improvement is slim to non.

What's worst isn't the road builders, it's the speed bumps on private property. I grind the tow hook pretty regularly.

Six posts between 11-10-2014, 12:34 AM and 11-10-2014, 12:45 AM then nothing. Why do people do that?

OP got 8 thanks for starting this thread. I wanted to know more about the paper mache bumper.

X2 on speed bumps. I didn't have much of an issue with my stock height Probe's air dam, but the lowered Civic scrapes exhaust on speed humps and severe driveway breakover angles.

He probably got the information he needed and moved on. I actually forgot he had some pictures of milled parts in the first post. That's the way to do it if you have access to a mill. Maybe a bumper could be made in a similar fashion to one of fiberglass.

I didn't leave... :)

With a sponsored Mini Cooper full scale concept class, and other Art Center classes I have just been busy with things. Finally the term is coming to an end and I am wrapping up my presentation as to what I plan to do.

In terms of my paper bumper, here is a link to some photos of how that was done, I did this some years ago- but I still have the fiberglass molds:

///---\\\Bumper plug build with (P I C S!)///---\\\ - Page 20 - Club RSX Message Board

My current project build on my rsx dc5 are here- as you may see I am into that very japanese raw street circuit style- reverse stagger etc:

Spray2020: Kosei k1/Buddyclub P1's and body kit build - Club RSX Message Board

I actually have been reading every comment and thinking- also have been in contact with SEMA research to try and get some info as to what I am looking for.

I just want to pick the correct target market, from what you guys seem to be telling me (which I also believe) is that I need to target car buyers who buy cars not only for function- also for some status that they want to achieve. All of you guys seem to be more into doing things yourselves, saving money both of what is done to the car and how the car saves money for you. Here and there binge on the hobby to feel satisfied. A bit different then how some of us typical car enthusiasts do things with our projects. Personally for me I don't care much about saving fuel economy- I just like building wild parts haha.

Thanks for your comment Sven,

I actually know that over the years the Jojo Callos style front end for the red civics was very popular. He ended up not doing good business and everyone ripped off his stuff and now it is all scattered to different fake replicas, but yes could be a good base for a efficient bumper for aerodynamics w/o the lip. Quite simple. Honestly, there are different types of enthusiasts- the ones that do it right and buy the real stuff, and those who do it on the cheap and buy the replica stuff. So $350 for a ftp front bumper is cheap if it is original design- heck- dc5 owners buy Backyard Special and Mugen bumpers for $1000 + even though the rsx isn't a expensive car. Getting your product to the quality that people will respect it and pay for it is another thing- which you point out.

That is quite the crazy paint job! I am particularly fond of the Kanjo Racer 90's style paint schemes :)

I find your comment the most inspirational, and I think it makes the most sense for what I have going with a material and the statement the product makes, in relation with matching it with the type of car buyer who would buy into it/ appreciate it for what it can do for them. :) Thank you

That's dazzle camo. This car (and others) lead a short trend toward military paint themes. There's even a thread. Sven7 describes this as the car's peak; it being gone these few years now.

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8044/8...8079b181_z.jpg

What did you think of the Arboform? It would let you pitch the material as an innovation.

I think you could have posted this here:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...sonSketch2.jpg
http://forums.clubrsx.com/showthread.php?t=939313

I like it. Edit for clarity: How about re-using the shape of the front wheelwell below the swage line to replace the rear wheelwell opening?

I think the fleet and PU idea can both be combined. The utility trucks, construction forman trucks, Transit connect vans. Those guys are getting company trucks and fleet managers are paying for the gas. Clean up the underside, automatic front grill screens, front aero dams, wheel spats and fleet managers would be buying fuel savings without impacting looks. If you're successfull with the no impact to looks department then attack the rear wheel wells and other improvements that do impact looks.