Video: Ditching the Side Mirrors Increases Fuel Economy

[Peakster]

Back in January, 2007 I did an experiment focussing on the fuel economy effects of removing the side mirrors on my 1997 Geo Metro. Simple A-B-A-B testing was used at a speed of 70 miles per hour.

Check out the results (by the way, my car still doesn't have mirrors on it):

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/v/Qa3Fqp1W2QA[/YOUTUBE]

Here's the kind of mirror setup I currently have on my Geo:



Feel free to discuss.

[XFi]

My Accent 'Now' has HUGE mirrors on it. It is actually decieving how 'small' of a car it is when driving because of this. They provide a more than ample view of my surroundings. I had removed them when I purchased the car, and utilized the small convex mirror inside the drivers door. I do not know how much this lowered the drag, but wasn't able to quantify the results.

I drive a lot of miles per year for work (bought 'Now' New less than four months ago and have over 12k miles on it currently) and it didn't take me long to reinstall the mirrors due to vision concerns in traffic. Just after removing the mirrors, I had taken a trip out to Pittsburgh and had problems changing lanes saftely due to the lack of mirrors. I did not have the 'convex' rear view mirror and think that may help alot. I was considering fabricating 'smaller' mirrors, but have put that a little lower on my to do list below grille block, wheel spats and undercarriage tray/paneling.

Mirror delete is on the list for the 'UnNamed Wagon', but I'm still looking for a better solution for 'Now'. Small camera and screen would be nice, but are a little outside of my discretionary income budget.

[MetroMPG]

XFi: don't forget the folding side mirror option.

I deleted my passenger mirror, and installed a folding one on the driver's door, which I leave tucked in on the highway, and deploy for city driving (or congested freeway driving):




Peakster:

Neat video. Too bad about the GS "branding" at the end!

I watched it after you first released it, and recall it was fairly close to the same result I measured on my car: Side mirror drag & FE effect - quantified

[MetroMPG]

Question: Do you remember how you ensured that the cruise control was at the exact same speed for each run?

[XFi]

MetroMPG-

Yes, I think that that may be the best way to go. The factory mirror on my Festivas folded almost flush. I think I may utilize one or both from a Festiva and modify them. Thanks!

[Peakster]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

Question: Do you remember how you ensured that the cruise control was at the exact same speed for each run?

For sure: I never turned off the engine during any part of the testing. I simply pressed the 'resume' feature on the cruise control just before the start of each run, ensuring I had the same precise speeds in each case.

[MetroMPG]

Nice work, man. It's nice to see people who 'get' experimental methodology.