Project: Geo Metro boat tail prototype - 15% MPG improvement @ 90 kph / 56 mph

[Funny]

Hack-a-Day happens to be one of the few sites I visit every day, just for ideas and other outside the box motivators. This site is on the same very short list. To have Ecomodder on Hack-a-Day is kinda cool, like there are a bunch of people that are just as weird as I am .

Though I have to say that most of the comments were from below-par, under-educated troglodytes that have no business commenting on subjects that they have no experience in. [/Rant]

I still need to post a mod I saw on that site that a guy made on his truck alternator to monitor the amperage as he turned on various accessories.

[Arragonis]

Originally Posted by Christ

The mythbusters have shown you can dimple the car like a golf ball for about a 12% increase in your MPG without going having to to resort to useless empty extensions of the front or rear of the vehicle. Granted, a dimpled car is not for everyone. But it does not require restriping every parking lot to accomodate 6ft aerodynamic extensions either.

Posted at 2:45 pm on Dec 25th, 2009 by BuzKill

*Facepalm...*

You mean that isn't true ?

Oh.

*(goes off to autobodyrepairsathomeonthecheap.com...)

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by Christ

*Facepalm...*

AAAAh! I know! As feared I'm seeing that Mythbusters episode quoted all over the internest as a quick aero fix. (EM seriously needs a blog piece about why people shouldn't accept that Mythbusters test at face value.)

---

My favourite Hack a Day comment so far:

how many hacks on hackaday are ’stylish’? How many are built to be functional? To test a theory? To prove something is doable?

Why are people so obsessed with the cars looks? (link)

100% right on observation. Car culture, ftw. Some people absolutely flip out when you do anything out of the norm to a car. A piece of electronics? Yay, mod it up! But a car? "Where's the line to give this guy a slap? I want to stand in it."

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by Funny

I still need to post a mod I saw on that site that a guy made on his truck alternator to monitor the amperage as he turned on various accessories.

I saw that too - was interesting. Feel free.

[NeilBlanchard]

Hi Darin,

Your boattail mod has now also made AutoBlogGreen:

Enterprising DIYer adds boat tail to Pontiac Firefly to boost mileage — Autoblog Green

[thatguitarguy]

Yer about to go viral!

I'm investing in cardboard and duct tape!

[JasonG]

Oh great, now Metros will go back up to $6K and I'll never get one !
Why wont some auto maker build a really aero car......
They build for other niche markets.

'NEW minivan with factory boat-tail, gets 65 MPG with 4 kids,2 soccer balls, groceries, 5 gym bags and a complete hockey setup inside, DVD system optional.'

[thatguitarguy]

Years ago kit cars were big for VW parts. Maybe somebody could engineer and market a kit for Metro parts. I'm guessing that with the rust problems in the bodies, there may be more engines than cars, and you could put together something that you could drop the engine and drivetrain into.

Maybe something like the Tryane II which used the front drive of a 2CV, or an EV1 clone.

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by JasonG

Oh great, now Metros will go back up to $6K and I'll never get one !
Why wont some auto maker build a really aero car......
They build for other niche markets.

'NEW minivan with factory boat-tail, gets 65 MPG with 4 kids,2 soccer balls, groceries, 5 gym bags and a complete hockey setup inside, DVD system optional.'

I believe that a market interest in fuel economy would eventually have the automakers relaxing their hold on aero tech.
Since high mpg cars only constituted less than 2-% of car sales,that must have been a pretty clear signal to the automakers that consumers really didn't use mpg as a criteria when making a purchase.
Coupled with a successful propaganda campaign to caricature efficient cars as unsafe,sales never reached levels to trigger change.
It's a complicated issue,I'd like to stay on it but Al is closing early for New Years and is motioning to me to finish up.Good topic.Not without great contoversy,inverted logic and great fear of Angels.

[MadisonMPG]

I keep reading comments are posting like "What happens when you get rear ended, it'll just fold like cardboard." I laugh everytime. Of course it will, but it still adds time/distance in a wreck.

I don’t understand why attaching something to the back of the car would make it more aerodynamic? Wouldn’t moding the front of the car be more effective? Maybe I need to read up more on aerodynamics..

Now this guy, this guy could learn some. He seems genuine.