Unit-02 Red Honda Insight

[Natalya]

Originally Posted by cowmeat

Looks really clean!

Would you mind driving down here this weekend and doing my Volt?

You guys keep making my miss my Insight

You probably miss the Insight because it has character.

[Natalya]

Oh I should mention an MPG advantage I'm going to have is that I know where to buy ethanol-free gas. Right now it's got 87 regular with 10% ethanol in it, but that changes as soon as I have to fill up again. I've only done like 400 miles though so it's still going to be a while. Hopefully next week?

[Natalya]

Okay so on my Silver G1 I put three aero panels under the back. One of them was really huge compared to the other two. I still have the measurements so I could duplicate it.

But I'm wondering what I should do for max FE? Ecky for example put big sheets that go under the whole body of the car.

A thought was I could use coroplast I have left over from the Black G2 to recreate the old G1 pan. Then, because it attaches easily, I could do some ABA testing. A testing regimen would be like I accelerate to 10 mph then throw it in neutral and see how far the car goes before stopping. But aero drag is most prevalant at higher speeds. I could try like getting to 40 then at a certain point on a road I could throw it in neutral and see how far it travels before hitting like 25. But then I'd need to be going down this road quite a few times with no traffic there. I'd also need a suitable road.

Anyone have any ideas how I can test?

[BabyDiesel]

A full, complete belly pan would be the absolute best for mpgs. It would be even better if the rear departure angle is around 5 degrees.

You're in luck! I did aerodynamic coastdown testing with my Escort ZX2 a couple years back. I gotchu

Here's the link - BabyDiesel's Cd testing thread

I noticed that my pictures have broken links for some reason. I'll have that fixed in the morning for you. The charts and diagrams really help in figuring out what's going on.

Also, you will need higher speeds to accurately test the rear pan. I did my testing starting at 55 mph, which was actually low. Basjoos started his testing at 80 mph IIRC (same methodology I used too!)

[California98Civic]

For the diffuser remember that the body type and the interaction of other modded features will matter. You have a hatch. Babydiesel, I think, might have a notchback. Depending on how precise you want to be, and whether you want to be sure of benefits and not losses, you might consult the below and experiment:

[BabyDiesel]

California98Civic, that is the chart I wanted to post with my message, but I did not have it and had to make the 5* assumption based off memory. Thank you for posting it!

I actually drive a '00 Insight now sir

[Natalya]

Okay so that chart is suggesting max benefit around 3° then, am I reading it correctly?

[California98Civic]

Originally Posted by Natalya

Okay so that chart is suggesting max benefit around 3° then, am I reading it correctly?

Yes. And notice too that anything from 2-4* is really pretty close to the same thing. So a little imprecision will not make a major difference. And, anyway, no matter what we do not have the equipment for precision. And even then, we also have difficulty knowing how a diffuser interacts with other aero mods or features on our cars that make it different than the models on this graphic. So I say, try for three and get close and it will probably be good enough for a benefit. I am no expert. But that's how I understand what gets taught here.

[Natalya]

Today I removed the read window wiper and its motor and I got the tires back up to 52 PSI.

I also temporarily removed the passenger seat since I know I won't have any passengers today or tomorrow lol.

[Natalya]

Bridgestone Potenza RE92s at 60 PSI, 1 of them got shredded.

Yesterday I noticed one of my tires wasn't driving smooth. Like, it felt like a flat spot. I assumed a rock or something got stuck in the tread and was pushing funny, because there'd be a small bump bump bump as I rolled along.

Today I start on my way to work, feel it again, and stopped the car and checked. The driver's side front tire was kinda warped in one spot I'd never seen anything like it before. I figured, "Okay, I'll just get to work and order two new ones, and hope this one lasts a day or two before I get them."

Yeah that didn't pan out, the tire failed on the highway at about 55 mph on the way to work. I replaced it on the side of the road with the donut tire, but I noticed the tire never actually popped. Instead, a patch of the tread was ripped off where the deformation was.

Could this be caused by overinflation or old age? I don't know the age of the tires but I can check. I had all 4 at 60 PSI for about 1500 miles. I think I'll go back down, unless y'all think this had nothing to do with PSI. Tires might have been manufactured in 2010.