Tas's 2008 Elantra Build Thread - Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum

tasdrouille · 03-03-2008, 08:02 PM

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.

And here's my car with the grill block.

SVOboy · 03-03-2008, 08:06 PM

At first I was like "what grill block."

I consider that a good thing,

H4MM3R · 03-03-2008, 08:18 PM

Looks great!

tasdrouille · 03-03-2008, 08:31 PM

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.

Daox · 03-04-2008, 08:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SVOboy

At first I was like "what grill block."

I consider that a good thing,

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

MetroMPG · 03-04-2008, 08:54 AM

Great - another project thread. Subscribed!

tasdrouille · 03-18-2008, 07:09 PM

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.

tasdrouille · 03-18-2008, 07:18 PM

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

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.

MetroMPG · 03-18-2008, 07:25 PM

Looks good. Nice, simple mod.

tasdrouille · 03-19-2008, 05:55 PM

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.