Smoothies and Grill block on a prius. How much gained?
 

My E300D finally got totalled by being rear ended by a teen texting and petting her dog at a stop light. I hadnt moved yet. She hit the gas.
I was getting close to 40mpg on the highway with just a few tweaks and some hypermiling.

Now it's time to put that insurance money into a prius.

Whats the real info? And do I really need to make my own smoothies out of pizza pans?

Thanks!!
I'd rather buy it than make it.

Whats the real gain from the smoothies?

Any link to a grill block?

true benefit from moondisks is very dependant upon wheel offset and tire width. some people get awesome results but normally thier tires are narrower than rims and wheels are just inside body curvature of square bodystyles.
Car front end and fender bulge etc. rounded fender cars like 90s rx7 as example need to fill the fenders. big gaps in aero make big turbulence down sides of cars. sometimes a slight protrusion creates less turbulence issues.

{Grill Blocks}most people make them but if you do add teeth it is soo booring to cover and smooth matching colors and all that have fun with it makes people smile.

It is a 2004 Prius with stock rims and Bridgestone ECOPIAs.

Teeth would be funny, but I must maintain a proffessional appearance.

I was thinking of removing the grill and wrapping the front with fiberglass and painting matte black.
That will likely look nice and stock.
How will this affect engine cooling in the northeast? Any experience.

Does anyone have a link to an aftermarket solid grill?

Also, does anyone have any real numbers on the mpg gain?

Can't say EXACT numbers, but by doing my front grill block (1 chunk at a time), each time I blocked more, I noticed I was able to coast a little further both city and highway. Even though city is a lot of lower MPH, it was noticeable.

According to the wiki...
Car MPG Efficiency Modifications Main - EcoModder

2.89% average gain in MPG was observed with partial or full frontal block. This, of course, varies from car to car and environment to environment.

3.56% average gain in PMG was observed with smooth wheel covers. This, of course, varies through different wheels, tires, offset of wheels, car, and environment.

Another tip, if you don't mind a bit of "ghetto", yet easy and cheap, is if you can find duct tape that matches your car's paint, you can use that tape to cover up anything on the front fascia for your grill blocks. Larger openings, use a backer like corrugated plastic. I had to use the backer quite a bit to fill in fog light holes and such on my neon. This allows you to constantly add to it and find the "sweet spot" for your cooling needs. Then, later, if you got ambitious... can do your fiberglassing and painting.

As evidenced by the GenII's Cd of 0.26, IIRC, the overall design is pretty good all things
aero considered, due mostly to the iconic shape and Kammback I suppose.

That said, there is the opportunity to pick some aero 'low hanging fruit,' interestingly
enough, mostly from down low on the car.

Typically you can permanently block the upper grill, but it would be best to be able to
monitor coolant temps with a ScanGuage, etc. Foam pipe insulation is hardly noticeable
and costs ~$10. Lots of threads on this.

This list of other things that you might consider offers lots of flexibility in implementation.
These include:
* Lower grill block in colder weather
* Smooth wheel covers
* "Spats' behind front and rear wheels
* Beneath the rocker panels fore/aft air dams
* Full or partial rear wheel skirts
* Lower air dam at front
* Underbody panels at front and 'diffuser' at rear
* Antenna and right side mirror delete
* Windshield wiper cover
* Rear wiper delete

No one of these will produce sizable aero/MPG gains. I'd guess that taken all together,
and you're lucky, you might see Cd gains up to 5-10%, MPG gains of maybe 2.5-5 MPGs.

Which, with gas at $4/gal and an un-modded average FE of 50 MPG, could return gas
cost savings of ~ $37 - $75 across 10,000 miles. YMMV of course.

This isn't a terribly good Cd breakdown, but I can't find the better Volvo or Audi
breakdowns right now… or possibly ever again: :o
http://i.imgur.com/ok3F3Tg.jpg

The Prius C does 50 MPG in stock config. My wife did not want a grill block during the winter.
Even a small one.

She went to the old school, 'IIABDFI'.. :p

Some members install blocks on the inside.

That was my plan. Did that on the Ford.. :)