what would you do?
 

I am taking one more trip to Dallas from Sacramento in May.(1775 miles over 2 1/2 days)
On my last trip I was able to get 32mpg with an 22 epa.
As you may know from previous posts I have done the following:
adjusted nut behind the wheel
scangauge
upsize tires (from 245/45/18 to 245/50/18 27.7" diameter)
43psi
nitro
IMPUL body kit (2" lower)
Lowered front end 1.25"
rear window spoiler
rear trunk spoiler
underbelly in front
underbelly in rear
Grill block behind grill
window tint (rear and rear sides)
window visors
Rear wheel skirts

So I have two thoughts:
1. I have been following the kammback threads and am concidering a clear kammback......
or....
could I acheive similar results by raising or lengthing the rear spoiler?
I was inspired by that windtunnel video with the new mb twoseater where the rear spoiler raised up....
however, I dont want ducttape it to the car. I want to try to make to look proffessional. I have some ideas but dont want to get started unless the group feels that it would help.
Also I have never figured out how to lay the 'templet' over the car to even begin to take measurements

2. I am going to run a lip or dam on the front. Havent worked uot the details because the car scrapes in the front sometimes so I dont want to do something now and drstroy it before the trip. there is about 5" from the ground to the bottom of the lip.
So do you think that doing a lip or dam is worth it for the trip?

Here is a side view of the car:

http://i678.photobucket.com/albums/v...G/IMG_2383.jpg

here is the software that VIIO did:
Here's a model of the air velocity affecting your car at 55mph - red is slow (drag/turbulence) and green/blue is full speed air (low drag = good).


http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y14...5-velocity.jpg

you can see the lip that I had on for the last trip and the skirt in back

http://i678.photobucket.com/albums/v...p/IMG_2264.jpg

here is the front(less the required lic plate)
http://i678.photobucket.com/albums/v...IMG_0017-2.jpg

reduce/or eliminate side mirrors as per legal in your state.

^^^right
Full belly pan, perhaps aluminum.
Wheel covers
front wheel skirts or partial skirts to fill the gaps
Exterior grille block

Kammback will help too. The spoiler on now probably isn't doing anything. You'd want one that sticks up far enough to hit the template.

http://i41.tinypic.com/o593s4.jpg

Knowing you are concerned about the appearance of the car, I'd suggest the spoiler. For better effectiveness, though, I'd suggest the Kammback.

Larry,
since I'm going for the kammback I dont want to eliminate the side mirrors or make 'non-factory' looking changes.

I have concidered some type of covering that would flair into the mirror.
I had gotten carried away one nite......
Thought about using fiberglass to mold something the would flow the air around it.


http://i678.photobucket.com/albums/v...pgq45107-1.jpg

[QUOTE=Sven7;289960]^^^right
Full belly pan, perhaps aluminum.
Wheel covers
front wheel skirts or partial skirts to fill the gaps
Exterior grille block

Kammback will help too. The spoiler on now probably isn't doing anything. You'd want one that sticks up far enough to hit the template.

QUOTE]

Sven,
Thank you:thumbup: for the template layover!
I already have the front and rear pans.
I had removed the middle section and there was no decernable difference.
I am going to really look hard at the wheel covers on the front.
I just havent figured uot how two make the front partial skirt look 'proffesional enough':o
I have tested the grill cover on front and back, no noticeable difference.

Honestly, some moon covers on the wheels would look really good with that silver paint. I'd be happy to Photoshop them on if you like.

With some fiberglass fabbing you could have an OE-looking mirror delete panel.

An air dam up front probably won't be noticeable if it's behind the painted lip. On my Rabbit I mounted the front license plate under the bumper at a 45* angle and actually had people ask me if I had a front plate at all. It's amazing what people will miss, especially when they're standing right next to it looking down. In all likelyhood no one will notice a black air dam.

I'm going to give the clear wheel covers one more shot.

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...5-11656-4.html

Zipties ar the way to go.
Vekke, I'd order some plugs but $$ is tight. I'm moving my daughter to texas at the same time.

I took the overlayed pic and figured that it is 5inches from the top of the spoiler to the bottom of the kammback.

http://i678.photobucket.com/albums/v...G/IMG_2474.jpg

I have a small lip spoiler on the top of the window. I can use that as the anchor point for the top.
I'm thinking of using some polycarb and using a heat gun to curve the corners. Then fit the edges of the polycarb with some foam so that the kammback seals to the body.
I would probably build an aluminuum L bar frame that would have holes in it to hook small bungee straps to.
That way I could use the trunk and easily set the kammback on and off

http://i678.photobucket.com/albums/v...IMG_2475-1.jpg

I'm curious... nitro?

in the tires.
in my personal experience, it keeps the psi consisitant with in 1psi.

You don't have to remove the side mirrors, just folding one of them would help. Put a wide angle mirror over the central mirror and you'll see what's beside you through the side windows (works for me:D).

Or fold the mirror and put a smaller one in its wake.

How long will the Kammback be - to the rear bumper, or to the end of the bike rack?

Ahh. Have you done anything in terms of tuning and/or fuel mapping?

No, that's way past my paygrade!

piwoslaw,
THe bike rake wont be there, I planing on just going past the end of the spoiler

I had a spare piece of black coroplast laying around and it is a beautiful day in NorCal!
I figured from estimating on the overlay, that the rear hieght at the edge of the spoiler was about 5" or a blue plastic glass!!!!

I laid the coroplast over the trunck to see if it would work for a test drive.

http://i678.photobucket.com/albums/v...G/IMG_2499.jpg

I want to try to stay within the trunck lines and this piece did that.

http://i678.photobucket.com/albums/v...G/IMG_2498.jpg

I wedged these strips into the gap and used them to anchor the kammback

http://i678.photobucket.com/albums/v...G/IMG_2501.jpg

left the rear window lip spoiler on as an edge to wedge the coroplast under.

http://i678.photobucket.com/albums/v...G/IMG_2500.jpg

ended up using some clear tape to attach everything.

http://i678.photobucket.com/albums/v...G/IMG_2502.jpg

http://i678.photobucket.com/albums/v...G/IMG_2503.jpg

This is the best mpg I have ever gotten over my 'control run'(same 10 mile strip of freeway that I have used over the last 3 yrs to test aba.)
http://i678.photobucket.com/albums/v...G/IMG_2504.jpg

I was really hopping to see 35mpg and probaly could at 55mph.

now I have 6 weeks to figure uot how to make this look factory!!!!!

Do you think I gave up anything by not going the full width of the rear end?
My original plan is to make some type of bracket that uses the trunk lid gap to hold the kammback on.....kinda like how the bike rake hooks to the gap in the trunck lid.

And as I think about it, I could bropably go wider and still hook to the trunk lips.....
Run some type of soft foam along the edges of the kammback to seal it against the body.

So this gets you from 32 mpg to 34.4 mpg?

Now a 2.4 mpg improvement is not bad. but will the clear version look much better?

What materials and securing details are you considering?

btw, here is the profile...
http://i678.photobucket.com/albums/v...IMG_2497-1.jpg

SO FOR EXAMPLE PURPOSES ONLY!!!!

build a frame uot of some aluminuum stock. So it sits on the trunk. Then use adjustable staps to secure it.
Similar to the picture. I thew this on there to demonstrate the idea of a frame that is held down by pulling the straps tight, like on a bike carrier. But I just set that on there for an example.....


http://i678.photobucket.com/albums/v...G/IMG_2507.jpg

http://i678.photobucket.com/albums/v...G/IMG_2508.jpg

kach,
Thanks for checking in!:D
I hoping to hear from you on this......:thumbup:

Very interesting. If I ever did something like this, I'd use my rear spoiler as the primary support and frame.

http://i712.photobucket.com/albums/w...SidebySide.jpg

ladogabot,
I can see you doing a clear polycar sheet with rounded corners down the side to follow the lines to the spoiler.
you could have some c shaped hooks that would meet the spoiler from under the sheet.
Use a rearwindow spoiler to anchor it.

Yeah, I could definitely do something like that. The 3M double-sided adhesives work really well, also. They might be something that you can use on your project.

Looks great! Your car was was just made to be Kammbacked.
No, you probably even gained a bit. With a boattail you not only want the top to slope down, but also the sides to converge. You wouldn't have a view straight from the rear? A view from above wouldn't be bad either...;)

Very interesting keep posting pictures please.

There is the small matter of being able to open the trunk easily. One end of the rear panel needs a hinge and the other needs to slide somehow if it's attached to the trunk.

Much like a bike rack....it will come off.
THe idea is that the straps crossing and pulling at oposite side will hold it down snugly.
simply reaching in and losing the straps will allow full accress to the trunck.

That's the whole idea.
by triming the edges(that are in contact with the body, with a foam trim, then the kammback will fit snug

should have taken a picture from the mirror. The view was actually pretty good. It didnt really cut off anything but thr top, I could still see the cars fine. and the side mirrors picked up right where they should.

I'd think you lost some of its potential by not tapering it in a bit more in planview, and by not lowering the rear as far as you can take it.

The first mock-up pics seem to have the rear a good deal lower than the last (car) photo shows it to be.

your going to have to be more specific.on the pictures.......

I used the same blue plastic glass each time in the same spot as a space.

As far as the lenght goes, I used a sheet of choroplast that i had lying around. So it was the size that it was. I was actually surprised that the lenght was almost perfect. I have no desire to extend it past the end of the car.