A Quest for 35mpg (Subaru Outback Limited Sedan 2.5L auto)

[Zerohour]

Its also an excuse to finally build a thermal Former. :-)

BTW I have a naked toaster, if I get another one, I'll have a pair of naked toasters. Then they'll transform like gobots into the easy bake oven from hell!

hahaha

[Zerohour]

So first "full tank" with the aero blocks on. 28.93MPG! Thats a new record. Best/worst part was I've been starting the car up in below 65F mornings, drove faster than normal one morning (running late), and then drove a female coworker home on evening

So 5.606 miles got me 162.2 miles and I was only driving eco ~90 of those miles.

Also I filled up because I'll be making a trip up to Lake Ontario this weekend. Ecomods do your stuff!

[Zerohour]

So Weekend update at the end of my trip. I am not thrilled with problems I had, but did a best to date MPG.

283.8 miles when arrived in NY, ~ 8-9 gallons into tank (was just below half). ~mpg range 31.5 - 35.4.

When leaving NY I filled up 3.006 additional gallons into the tank. On the ride home it rain/poured for over 150miles. Need to use headlights, fogs, and defroster. Never turned the defroster off for the last 100 miles (this was my mistake, forgot it was running). End result when I filled up back home tonight:
532.2 miles @ 16.803 gallons, net of 31.14 mpg.

In winter I've noted a lose of 2-3mpg using the defroster (~11%). This holding true I believe I was achieving ~34mpg, if I hadn't gotten jammed up in traffic and the excessive use of the accessories. Pretty happy with the results!

[brucey]

Even with the A/C switched off in the cabin, the ECU decides that since you have the defroster setting on you need to run the compressor. So 31 MPG while using your A/C ain't too shabby at all!

[Zerohour]

It helps when you're traveling 81S for 138 miles and there are no stops, ever :-)

[Zerohour]

I'm debating on what route to take with my Subaru. What do you think would give the best gains? Rear wheel skirts or trying to modify the side mirrors? I've been messing with the mirror Idea and haven't found a good way to replicate identical inverse molds for both sides. Any suggestions???

Or should I just go for Side skirts?

[Weather Spotter]

Try just doing the passenger side mirror, I did it, and my testing today showed a 3.7% gain (1.6 MPG). After that, look into smooth wheel covers, they are cheap fast to do and got me a 3.4% gain (1.4 MPG).

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...aps-14295.html

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...rix-14253.html

Also take a look at the Wiki page for car mods, it might spark some ideas:
Car Modifications Main - EcoModder

[brucey]

Side skirts showed 0.6 mpg improvement for me at 55 mph.

Meanwhile, removing the mirrors entirely showed 1.9 mpg at 65 mph (self imposed top speed)

Folding them in showed about 1.2 mpg, which is a good compromise between visibility and aero. I dont think there is a lot to do with your mirrors, besides changing them for smaller ones. Any work you do will be hard to measure without A/B/A testing and even then you'll need an original identical spare.

If you want, you can have my (now broken) side view camera and try and get it to work. I never got around to finishing it but it held up fine in 10,000 miles. I believe the screen simply quit working.

[redpoint5]

I see the pizza wheel covers are popular, but has anyone tried a clear solution? Perhaps it's possible to "skin" over the existing wheels with something clear in an attempt to gain MPGs and maintain aesthetics.

[Weather Spotter]

I have read of someone using Plexiglas to cover over the current rims. they also used some clear pot bottoms (to catch extra water I think) that they got from home depot.

The issue was keeping the back side clean (brake dust, dirt, mud). You can see through it but that is not always a good thing.