Ultimate Aero Mod: Aero Prius Yura Style Neo kit
 

I had posted this in Prius Chat and saw it fit for the Ecomodder crowd...

After browsing different modifications for the Gen III Prius, I came across MoonCraft's offering that claimed to reduce the Cd to .24, "AeroPrius YuraStyle Neo" and was quite impressed:

http://i44.tinypic.com/35c1jf6.jpg

Neo Turbine wheel:
"This wheel cover is only fitted on the TWS Air Verge."

NEO Fender Trim:
"This is for controlling the flow behind the tyre."

http://i44.tinypic.com/2eav0xx.jpg

NEO Slant Nose:
"The radar cruise system is able to attach, due to the toyota emblem can attach. This device makes efficient cooling for the condenser and the inverter. Hence, this sucks the air coming from the under."

NEO Lower Mask:
"This can control the amount of the air, which is coming through in the radiator. This also can help to reduce a drag. The chin spoiler will help for a comfortable driving with the under body."

http://i41.tinypic.com/28j9u8x.jpg

NEO Spats:
"This is for controlling a side air flow of cars. This also helps to reduce a drag. This device is attached from brackets on the wheel house."

Neo Wing:
This wing can make the zero lift. Due to the original spoiler makes a slightly lift force. The normal high stop light is approved."

Neo Side Air Cutter:
"This device is able to control the air behind the car for a lower drag. Especially, this well performs without Spats."

http://i42.tinypic.com/2jcxky.jpg

NEO Mirror:
"The lowest drag mirror. This mirror has a vortex generator to control the flow behind. This mirror is approved by the automobile inspection in Japan."

http://i44.tinypic.com/kaqxs4.jpg

NEO Louver:
"The aluminum louver can attach the automatic open and shut unit as an option. This can perform the lowest drag with the slant nose, the lower mask and the inner shroud."

Here is a video on Youtube that Prius above doing a distance competition:

It traveled 1638km at 36.1km/L, with a residual quantity of 700cc of gas. That equates about 1018 miles traveled at 85 mpg with 0.2 gallon(s) of gas remaining.

In contrast, the best stock prius in the contest traveled 1388km at 33.1km/L. That equates to about 863 miles covered at 78 mpg.

A direct quote from Moon Craft on the results

"Success in this challenge was because of aerodynamic improvements, road conitions and driver's skills.

1. The driver mostly used highways, which gives a high efficient of a fuel consumption.
(As you can image, the driver usually doesn't need to operate full throttle or hard braking on a high-waym.)
2. The drag of our Prius neo is lower than the original car.
(According to our factory researches, the CD value of our PRIUS neo is approximately 6.8% lower than the original.)
3. The driver carefully drove the car.
(The car had a monitor to check driving styles. This is helpful for the driver to manage the fuel.)"

From the video it seems that this Prius used Yokohama BluEarth tires.

When I had asked about the Cd of .24 they had informed me the wind tunnel test was done on a 1/4 scale model.

This is the price sheet (excluding shipping):


PRIIS (Mk.3) PRICE LISTS

Component Materials Price (un-painted) Price (painted)
neo Slant Nose FRP $249.64 / $559.69
neo Lower mask FRP $332.82 / $642.90

neo Louver AL $347.29 ←

neo Fender Trim FRP $255.30/ $462.02
neo Mirror FRP $868.22/ $1,074.94
neo Spats FRP $586.05 / $896.13
neo Wing FRP $564.35 / $874.43
neo Side Air Cutter FRP $124.03 / $330.75

neo Turbine CFRP $1,736.45 ←
neo Automatic Louver Opener - $492.72 ←

USD total for parts before shipping (unpainted): $ 5,556.87
USD total for parts before shipping (painted): $ 7,417.32

Sweet stuff. Not sure how long the payoff would take, but it looks good and definitely works.

Great point! I am actually asking them about what the average fuel consumption statistics the kit generates.

If you want your prius to look cool and make a statement, that's the winner. It'll never save you money though.

I wonder about that Cd reading as (according to wikipedia) "Its (3d gen Prius) new body design is more aerodynamic, with a reduced drag coefficient of Cd=0.25. This figure is disputed by General Motors which found the value for the model with 17" wheels to be around 0.30 based on tests in GM, Ford, and Chrysler wind tunnels."

So woud all this just yield a 4% reduction in drag?
Unless American Iron was right about the .30; then it is a 20% reduction.
It does seem to have 17" rims.

I'd expect 1% from the aero wheelcaps (why just the front?), 2% from the arch covers, 2% from the 'spats', 5% or so from the U&L grill block and lip, 2% from the smaller windows and other trim.
4% overall seems too low low, 20% too high.

It is nice to see commercially available aeromodding kits. Even though you'd have to burn at least 20 thousand gallon before you earn your investment back... You'd go a million miles :)

If one bought it shortly after the car was purchased, it would pay off a bit after 250,000 miles, roughly.

Its a shame about that price. A quality low pro mirror on the market would be good for all of us, but there is no way I'm paying that much money for one. The pair for $100 (without lights maybe?) would be about right.

Look very good in general. The grill block protrudes a bit - is this done for a purpose? And the front wheels have larger slots than I'd think is optimal.

I think the protruding lip helps to prevent the air from flowing under rather than over the car, where you'd want it. I want to make something like it.

kit,
 

So for $96,421.00 you could get to Cd 0.12?