Max out fuel economy!

[Darlo]

Hey all! I am looking for suggestions for mod-ing the exterior of my festiva for the purposes of decreasing drag, and thus increasing my gas mileage! I so far am averaging 48mpg in the summer and 44mpg in the winter, but want to raise this to 60-70mpg.........

I am looking for cheap/free mods similar to those in this link. http://www.aerocivic.com/ Notice that he got up to over 90mpg! WOW!

I dont think I want to go that far, but I am looking for ideas that would be easy to try, or that others have tried successfully. Mike (sasquatch) and I have started the brainstorming for materials to use, and what to use to make it structurally sound.

The more ideas the better, so anything you think may work....through it out there!

[FestYboy]

hatch cone and under belly tray with front spliter to keep the nose stable. add wheel skirts and diffuser and lower car.

TUNE ENGINE....

[drddan]

Ok..whats a hatch cone? I am imagining some funny lookin stuff! :p

[FestYboy]

middle picture.

[Grey Vw]

You could probably use those saucer shaped sleds to make wheel skirts,just cut them in half and probably fiberglass then for strength.

Now that I think about it they could be used to make fender flares.

[Darlo]

The round sled idea is great! That is probably a better option than any metal on the skirts..... ( I even have two of them, lol)

[drddan]

middle picture.

:shock: Thats kinda what I was imagining. Only a little more.."out there". lol

[mattman]

lower the car an block off any area of the front that doesnt direct air straight to the radiator use a front splitter that stretches from the bumper to the front of the floor pan also trim the rear bumper an add a rear diffuser

either use smaller side mirrors or do a exterior mirror delete an mount side veiws inside the door ( i knowa guy who used 2 video cams an added 2 5" screens in his dash on a trans am ..yes he is a knightrider fanatic )

and add a wing on the back even with the roofline but extended out about 18" with a slight downward taper the natural shape of the festy causes a huge wake behind the car an some areonotics guys on ecomodder have a program to simulate the cas shape n a wind tunnel to find optimum areo advantages

also stay with skinny tires less contact patch is less friction

just remember you can do most anything if ya wanna get full on wild with it you can do like the woman at the salt flats with the 200mph crx an mold and build a nose cone for the festy or even go a lil more extreme an do a 6 to 10" chop of the roof also if you dont use it remove any excess weight from the car rear seat things inside panels stuff like that weight is your enemy not your friend

im working on some ideas to do some of this stuff to a festy but in this economy the lack of extra funds is the big issue but i thought you might find some of these ideas interesting

[SuperDaveGulvak]

For a construction material I'd have to say use coroplast sheets. They are available in a large selection of sizes/diameters and are pretty cheap. I'm looking into tinkering around w/ hypermilling on a scooter using coroplast.

[Safety Guy]

So Dave...just where do we pick up Coroplast?

I'd go with paper mache! :p Cheaper, and you can get the neighborhood kids to help.

Karl

[getnpsi]

Coroplast is the stuff the politicians use to advertise to vote for them. For a festy/aspire you only need to swipe a handful. They cut with a blade easier than cardboard and last forever. I did little tricks like this and was able to put down 40mpg mixed city and highway in a heavier aspire with 10% taller tires which shoulda hurt me around town because of the extra weight. I see regular 5sp festivas not always hitting 40mpg so i was proud of myself.

OP: Timing red lights and hills should get you over 50mpg if you are high 40's already. It takes practice. I was delivering pizzas so i got lots of practice, and the better i was at it, it directly helped my bottom line. Park where you don't have to back out, saves tires too. Always keep in mind what gets your engine warm fastest and try to plan errand routes accordingly.

I agree with above to TUNE your car. Also consider adding a 3 wire O2 sensor into your system. In colder weather an accurate air fuel ratio may bump your economy as well.


To hit 60mpg in a festiva is going to be tough. You would have to go thru it and change a lot, and really change its appearance.

[Darlo]

I have already taken out the back seats, the rear belts, and a few other things. I also have already removed my exterior mirror.

Do you have a link to that simulation program?!?! I would love to play with that!

lower the car an block off any area of the front that doesnt direct air straight to the radiator use a front splitter that stretches from the bumper to the front of the floor pan also trim the rear bumper an add a rear diffuser

either use smaller side mirrors or do a exterior mirror delete an mount side veiws inside the door ( i knowa guy who used 2 video cams an added 2 5" screens in his dash on a trans am ..yes he is a knightrider fanatic )

and add a wing on the back even with the roofline but extended out about 18" with a slight downward taper the natural shape of the festy causes a huge wake behind the car an some areonotics guys on ecomodder have a program to simulate the cas shape n a wind tunnel to find optimum areo advantages

also stay with skinny tires less contact patch is less friction

just remember you can do most anything if ya wanna get full on wild with it you can do like the woman at the salt flats with the 200mph crx an mold and build a nose cone for the festy or even go a lil more extreme an do a 6 to 10" chop of the roof also if you dont use it remove any excess weight from the car rear seat things inside panels stuff like that weight is your enemy not your friend

im working on some ideas to do some of this stuff to a festy but in this economy the lack of extra funds is the big issue but i thought you might find some of these ideas interesting

[SuperDaveGulvak]

Well this is a link to a website that I found that sells Coroplast:

http://www.professionalplastics.com/COROPLASTSHEET

You can also look up a local sign making business to find it- like stated earlier coroplast is used in the signs that solicit your yard for all kinds of things. I'm interested in what you got going on Darlo be sure to post any tinkering or mods you do

[Darlo]

I am thinking of bypassing my alternator! Does anyone know if I can get a belt that will perfectly fit between my water pump and engine?

Take a look at the fuel savings here.http://www.metrompg.com/posts/alternator-optional.htm

[FestYboy]

don't even THINK about that idea. you can't maintain proper voltage for your ignition system and that will LOWER your MPGs. the ALT is a variable load, so just run with as few lights as possible and no radio or other unnessisary accessories. the fewer things loading the system, the less power it takes to turn the ALT.

besides, cycling a battery like that kills it faster... alot faster.