Tas's 2008 Elantra Build Thread
 

It's not much, but there's gotta be a first step.

I installed my lower grill block this morning. I used black coroplast and tie wraps.

I didn't take a before picture, but here's a generic pic for reference.

http://www.autobytel.com/images/2007...Elantra_28.jpg

And here's my car with the grill block.

http://www.ecomodder.com/forum/attac...9&d=1204588828

At first I was like "what grill block."

I consider that a good thing, :)

Looks great!

The good thing is that I did not see the temp rise more than usual during my commute even though I tried to help it a bit. I'll wait till the weather gets warmer, but I'm pretty sure the upper grill opening is big enough on its own to supply what's needed.

Next in line is the abs belly pan that should come on in a month and a half when I do the 3750 miles oil change.

Haha, I did the same thing. Nice work Tas.

Great - another project thread. Subscribed!

50 cents upper grill block
 

Inspired by Harpo, I went ahead and blocked 3 of the 4 slots of my upper grill with black pipe insulator.

Since I completely blocked the bottom grill, all I have now for airflow is the small slot at the bottom of the upper grill. Oddly, there was not the slightest increase in engine temp vs no block at all.

http://www.ecomodder.com/forum/attac...1&d=1205878141

Wai
 

The way my intake is designed, it looks like a CAI getting it's air at the front just under the hood.

http://www.ecomodder.com/forum/attac...1&d=1205878693

The part pointing forward is just held with 2 screws and is slid in the intake duct. I figured out it would be ridiculously easy to make a WAI, so I'll give it a shot later this week.

Eventually I plan to get rid of the ribbed ducting past the MAF and delete the resonnator too to get better flow in the piping, but that'll probably wait till the warranty is over as it would not be as easy to revert back to stock compared to a WAI.

Looks good. Nice, simple mod.

WAI done
 

5$ of aluminium ducts and 10 minutes was all it took. We'll see how my engine reacts to warmer air. I just hope that it will follow the rule that bsfc is inversely proportionnal to the square root of the suction air temperature.

http://www.ecomodder.com/forum/attac...1&d=1205960270

http://www.ecomodder.com/forum/attac...1&d=1205960068

http://www.ecomodder.com/forum/attac...1&d=1205960068

Nice work tas!

i've been looking to make a lower grill block but can't figure out where to get the coroplast. are there any stores that typically carry coroplast board or do you have to get it from a sign shop?

Great work on both applications :thumbup:

BTW, do you have a ScanGauge or other device to monitor the IAT? I've found that there's an ideal IAT -- with anything hotter, the result can often-times produce inefficient conditions.

Also, that's a neat stock intake -- it's given me some ideas on sourcing cool air for the Summer.

I agree with removing the resonator -- dead weight IMO. I've done the same and haven't notice much difference unless at WOT, which is very rare anymore.

I look forward to the results! :)

RH77

I've seen your post regarding the ideal IAT for your engine. I don't have a SG yet, but will get one in the following weeks as it makes it practically impossible to test the impacts of mods and techniques without one.

You should be able to find some (usually they have only white) at hardware stores such as home depot. Sign shops will have some leftovers for sure and they can even cover some with a vinyl color of your choice. Finally, any plastic distributor should carry most colors or be able to source some, but getting a specific color might be more expensive than getting a white one vinyl coated.

I'll be going on a 600 miles trip next weekend so I went ahead and decided to make a quick air dams set.

I installed the coroplast front dam today and will post some pics later. I used what I had left from my lower grill block, we'll see how it holds up. I will make additionnal sheet metal wheel dams later this week. The front dam is not quite long enough to cover up the whole width of the wheel. My coroplast sheet was only 6 foot long and the bumper itself is not large enough. The rear wheels already have oem tiny dams which I'll upgrade.

Also, the upper grill block made of pipe insulation should be perfected. As the material gets used to its new shape, it has a tendency to become loose and can fall off when the car is parked in a side wind.

Autospeed did some testing with front wheel air dams. They noted that bigger wasn't necessarily better. Although, I don't remember the exact context of their testing.

I'm stealing all of Harpo's ideas!

Here's a picture of the front as of today. You can see why I think I might need some additionnal front wheel air dams. You can also see the pipe insulator part gone awol in the 2nd slot from the top in the upper grill.

http://www.ecomodder.com/forum/attac...1&d=1206395604

Here's a comparison before/after

http://www.ecomodder.com/forum/attac...1&d=1206395604

The only problem I have with it is that the flat front part can easily be bent backwards a bit which might create even more lift. I can't see how much it flexes at 75 mph, but the sides are pretty strong because of the curve.

All in all it extends down 2 inches in the middle and 4 inches on the sides.

Looks pretty nice!

Is the coroplast air dam reinforced from behind? I'm just wondering about the pressure a 100 km/h headwind will put on it.

There is nothing to reinforce the coroplast per se. There is 3/4 of an inch of the stock abs lip below the screws level on which the coroplast rests so it stiffens it a bit. I drove it at 75 mph without any apparent problem.

The air dam unfortunately didn't pass aesthetic inspection from the GF, and while she was at it she stated that everything I do to our car should be invisible, else she does not want it on the car.

So I took her to the letter and removed everything that was on the car. As of now I replaced the coroplast lower grill block with a lexan plate fixed from behind the bumper. It won't be as effective but it's better than nothing. I also cut a part for the upper grill block that will solve the problem I had with pipe insulator.

I nonetheless transferred the air dam to the TDI (MY car) during lunch. I'll start another thread for this car as I'll be reusing the coroplast I removed from the elantra for aero mods on the TDI.

Here's the stock rear wheel air dam on my car. What would you do to improve it? Extends it downwards? How low? Should I mod it to take care of oblique air flow coming from underneath the car?

http://www.ecomodder.com/forum/attac...1&d=1206620068

Apparently these little flat tire spats/dams are quite sensitive to size & positioning. It's possible to increase Cd by going overboard, according to this article:

http://autospeed.com/cms/A_2456/article.html

I think the optimal route would be to add proper "3d" aerodynamic shapes ahead of the tires rather than spats/dams. Though of course that would be much more work to do.

Reading Darin's comments in regards to custom 5th gears in the top gear thread, I decided to investigate a bit if there was something I could find for the Elantra.

My 5th gear set is 0.776. It turns out the 5th from the trans mated to the 1.6 diesel engine in the Elantra HD, Avante HD and i30 is 0.66, a 15% drop which would be perfect. Problem is parts for this trans are not available in NA. I contacted a couple KDM import business to see if they could source the part and at what cost.

Interesting - good luck.

I wish I could get a taller OEM 5th for my car. It may make it pretty much undriveable in top gear with the taller final drive already in there (as well as the tires, which are taller than originally went with that transaxle), but I'd still like to try it.

I'd like to ask the guy who already made a custom taller gearset for the Metro if he'd lend me his, but he's not very consistent at answering e-mail.

Id like to put a block on my elantra but I dont think it will get cold enough here to compensate.

You can at the very least block the top grille from behind. I keep it all year long.