Starting to aero the Subie.
 

I've got a ton of cloroplast now, thanks to election being over. I've put wheel skirts on, and will now be moving to tackling the front end.

http://lesbaru.com/stuff/skirts.jpg

As far as an underbody, I'm going with 3/16 alu. on the vital bits. The oil pan area, the transmission pan, and maybe the gas tank if I have enough left over. The rest is going to be cloroplast underneath. But for now, my front end is definately a wreck. (More specifically, someone wrecked into me and my insurance wanted too much to fix it, so I amputated part of the bumper.)

http://lesbaru.com/stuff/bumper.jpg

Basically, whats the best shape for me to go with here? I'd like to keep some approach angle since I live in WV and every 3rd person I know lives on a rutted dirt road. But if it can't be helped then I guess I'll find new friends. :D

The stock bumper simply goes straight down and is rounded with the bumper.

http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/...0061990001.jpg

I was thinking something like this,

http://lesbaru.com/stuff/bumperthought.jpg

although it might be too steep of an angle. This is where you guys come in. :thumbup:

Looks like good progress so far, keep us posted, :)

The last image that you posted seems to suggest a slanted piece directly below the bumper.
From what I know ( almost nothing ) of good aero., this would deflect the air downwards and cause it to make contact with the ground - bouncing all around and causing all sorts of turbulence before bouncing back upwards and hitting the supesnsion - causing even more drag.
Also, a front end like this would add a considerable amount of front end lift at high speed ( unsafe ! ) You would notice that the car would seem to feel 'squirrely'.

Perhaps you could investigate trying to have the air flow to the sides of the vehicle instead. ;)

The car looks good with the skirts on.

Extra points for doing your mods in an eco friendly way by recycling the Coroplast signage !

It was free too wasn't it ?

That's a win / win situation for sure !

Hmmm.

So simply damming it all up and keeping the roundness of the bumper would be better?

http://lesbaru.com/stuff/bumperthought2.jpg

I plan to build in small wheel deflectors as showed on that prius undertray article, either way.

And yes, the cloro was all free, I got ahold of about 80~100 standard sized signs after the election, so I'm not short on it in anyway.

Further investigation shows a pretty similar front end on the front end of the Lexus Hybrid. Now wheres the aero experts?

http://lesbaru.com/stuff/lexusfront.jpg

You're right.

I'm curious to know how it affects front end stability.

Other cars and suvs have front ends that slant upwards like that too.

The older Chevy Lumina comes to mind. The '67 Stingray Corvettes had front end that slanted upwards as well. They were known for having lots of front end lift.

I just wanted to point out that I'm no expert, and was not claiming to be.

Go with the rounded idea instead of slanted. The less amount of air that passes under the vehicle the better for stability and fuel economy.

Alrighty, I probably won't get a chance to do this until after I get back from Florida, but afterwards I plan to get the front end rounded off and start to work on a frame for the underbelly. It'll be time for inspection too, I wonder how thats gonna pass?

I have an 04 Highlander which is essentially the same thing as the Lexus. They are very stable at highway speeds even with the wedgy front end. I looked at the hybrid version and its identicle to mine except for some little front tire air dams to aero the front wheel a bit. I just got 24.8mpg staying around 75mph for about 385 miles and pumped up tires with a 3.o Liter V-6. Our 2k Suby outback got 26. IMHO a great deal of highway mileage could be had with shorter differential gearing. The 76 Plymouth Feather Duster could get 30mpg with a carb'd 3.7 Liter engine because it was light and had a 2.7 something ratio diff.