Spring mounted Grill Block

[cfg83]

Blue Bomber Man -

Originally Posted by Blue Bomber Man

Okay couple things:

First off great idea! I think you might be able to stick with the strong springs if you just lower the initial angle that the coroplast or move the connection point on the flap you could probably get it to move at the speed you want.

Any chance I could get more info on your wheel covers? They look pretty slick and may prove to be an easy solution for my wheels. I have aluminum alloys that came stock.

You are right. There are a lot of ways to skin the marmoset when it comes to this. Right now I am only tweaking "one parameter". The springs are the easiest parameter to tweak.

That wheel cover is aluminum tape, but it's too fragile, , so I can't recommend it. It is here :

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...disk-3657.html

CarloSW2

[cfg83]

ai_vin -

Originally Posted by ai_vin

The alternative to using stronger springs is to reduce the size of the coroplast so it catches less wind.

Yeah, I may go back to my version 1.0 grill block, which is smaller :



As you can see, the version 1.0 is not as wide. Because it doesn't have the side "wings", it is also less prone to flapping on the sides because it has better structural support. I was thinking that I could even have some holes in it to "modulate" how much I am blocking.

Like I was saying to ai_vin, I want to tweak the springs for now and see where it takes me.

CarloSW2

.

[cfg83]

evolutionmovement -

Originally Posted by evolutionmovement

I had a similar idea for a deployable airdam meant for high-speed stability that used pneumatic cylinders that took their air supply from waste air from a turbocharger (small compressed air tank could be filled externally and replenished by waste air that normally was vented to atmosphere via blow-off valve). The idea could be used in a normally aspirated car by just using the external air source (or a compressor for air suspension). It was to be manually actuated as I thought rigging it up to a pitot tube would be too ridiculous. Never ended up building it, but I did write it into one of my books, not that that's a proof of concept, but I can't see why it wouldn't work.

Yeah, I was thinking of all sorts of active grill blocks. I have at least one mechanism that I know will work (my Dad made it while helping me on an Energy Design project at UCLA), but it would be a lot of labor to make it work just right, and I didnt' want to run wires if I didn't have to. What I am trying to do is make it a "semi-active" system that uses the air pressure to my advantage.

CarloSW2

[cfg83]

MetroMPG -

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

Neat thread, CarloSW2!

Thanks. I think lunarhighway's passive "Tempo Grill Block" research may ultimately be more reliable, but I am just glad that I have a proof of concept in my current iteration.

CarloSW2

[cfg83]

Hello -

Just got my new record, 63.3 MPG (old record was 62 MPG) :

Trip log for: 1999 Saturn SW2: home to work

ROUTE : 10 West -> 710 South -> 105 West -> 405 South -> Exit Freeway => Roughly 27+ miles
----
NET ELEVATION CHANGE : ~210 feet drop
----
SCANGAUGE "CURRENT" READINGS :
63.3 MPG,
0.4 Gallons,
204 Water Temp Max,
27.4 Miles,
2892 RPM Max,
0.5 Hours,
57 MPH Max,
47 MPH AVG
----
IAT READING : Hot Air Intake + dynamic grill block led to Input Air Temp readings of around 140 degrees F.
----
WEATHER(.com) :
75.5 degrees F,
Sunny,
27% Humidity,
33 degrees F Dew Point,
30.045 in. Pressure,
----
TIME : ~11:30 AM to ~12:00 PM (PST), ~30 minutes
----
RECENT CAR CHANGES : Same as last time. Restored my rear wheel skirts, increased oil filter size, and "dynamic grill block" v2.0 + stiffer springs mod.
----
HYPOTHESIS : "Ok" Goldilox traffic (not too pushy). Bone dry weather at the start, 10% humidity, but 44% humidity at the beach. My atypical 2892 RPM peak happened because I tried to use the Florence off/on ramp on the 710 to stay slow, but I had to accelerate to get in front of truck. High summer weather + good traffic made the mods perform!

Just one of those goldilox daze ...

CarloSW2

[cfg83]

Hello -

The stiffer spring worked today, but I want to try a different spring. Soooooo, I did some spring analysis. All of these springs are 1.5" end-to-end. Here is my original C7 spring baseline comparison from Osh :


3.00 - 1.50 unstretched = 1.50" stretch

Here is the C11 spring that is really stiff :


1.88 - 1.50 unstretched = 0.38" stretch

Here are ones that are in-between :


2.31 - 1.50 unstretched = 0.81" stretch


2.50 - 1.50 unstretched = 1.00" stretch


2.81 - 1.50 unstretched = 1.31" stretch

I am going to pick the middle one, C23, for my next test.


CarloSW2

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[Arminius]

Great idea.

Btw, Carlos, your voice sounds sexier in the second video.

[cfg83]

Hi Arminius -

Long time no read ...

Originally Posted by Arminius

Great idea.

Btw, Carlos, your voice sounds sexier in the second video.

That's why I married me, .

CarloSW2

[jazzie604]

great idea, largely because of its simplicity. A couple of ideas off the top of my head for you.
1st- if you can join the spring mounts to one place, it should give you the option of mixing and matching the springs to get the desired rate.
2nd- joining the mount would also allow you to move the leverage point on the piece of chloroplast as well.

Also, you may look into a different mounting position for the cloroplast. at full drop, you are basically scooping the air up into the bumper. moving the pivot forward, which may require a longer travel, should allow it to more naturally flow the air under the car.

Of course, these all may be incredibly stupid ideas as well, so good luck!!!

[cfg83]

jazzie604 -

Hmmm, I didn't think of that. It would essentially be a 3-point connection. 1 Spring(s) connection and 2 hinge connections. I can drill a hole in the bottom center of the license plate, or build a whole top mount that takes the flexing license plate out of the equation. I used two springs because the bottom corners of the license plate is where the ready-made holes were.

CarloSW2