Re: Driveit's day dreaming and build thread.

[jerry46765]

Let's say you are getting 16mpg now, 25mpg is a 36% increase.  That is a big jump in mileage.  Overdrive transmission, tall rear axle gears, weight reduction, and modest driving will get you much closer to your goal than any aero mods.  Anything that increases slip stream area will decrease gas mileage.  Race car parts don't improve fuel mileage; they improve high speed down force.  A splitter decreases understeer at high speed by adding front down force.  Diffusers remove air from the rear wheel houses and give additional rear area to create more high speed down force.  Spoilers add high speed down force to the rear and increase slip stream area.  All three will hurt fuel mileage.  You need to decide if you are going for mileage or race car looks, because you can't have both.  Google hypermiling; I work with a guy that will drive through the desert southwest with the windows rolled up and the a/c turned off in order to get an additional 2mpg.  It just depends on what you are trying to do.  Thanks -

[Dinomyte]

Driveit :

Jerry46765 is right.  I originally thought you were just looking for aerodynamic advice.  If it's fuel economy, then think about the following :

1. drive like an old lady
2. taller rear gears
3. overdrive trasnmission
4. weight reduction
5. skinnyer,  harder compound tires
6. tune your engine for it. or change it
fuel injection vs carburetor
less displacement
variable displacement, find a way to disable every other cylinder in the firing order, like Dodge does.

Just food for thought.

[jerry46765]

Or buy an economical vehicle and enjoy your G3 for what it is.

[dynchel]

The undercar shield he asked about has to help a little. (Although a full belly pan seems a bit ambitious and a major p.I.t.a.)  With the new CAFE standards starting to take effect many new cars are using them ( much to the dismay to those of us that have to spend five minutes removing crap to change the oil). My guess is they help mostly on the freeway.

[driveit]

Thanks everyone.  

Ok so here is what I am thinking.  Maybe I am wrong.  I am planning the more common mods as well, but I want to see how far I can take this thing into the realm of modern fuel economy numbers.  I am not sacrificing my power or cylinders the whole point of having this car is hearing that thundering V8 under the hood,  I know this makes it more difficult.  I just consider it another challenge.  

The front splitter will not be a full on nascar or pro-touring one built for downforce, but more for keeping as much air going over and around the car rather than under it.  I am thinking of something more like a bullet, something to help it cut through the air more smoothly rather than increase downforce and drag there.


So a full belly may be out of the question, I don't know yet.  I will have to see when I can get my other frame out for trials.  I just want to smooth everything underneath as much as possible to decrease air drag under the car.

Rear diffuser to help direct the air under the car and help move it out faster and moor smooth from under the car.  This does add down force so I may leave this out all together and just smooth out this portion as well.

Remove all trim possible on the car to decrease as much drag from the body as possible.
Possibly flush the door handles.
Replace as many panels as possible with fiberglass that can be done safely and fill all body gaps.  After a suggestion from yesterday  I have decided to look into a custom headlight bucket to block air from getting into that area causing more drag.

I will be Lightening bumper structures and possibly switch to a Laguna front end.  

Develop a canard that would work in front of the wheels that wouldn't look too out of place.  After more research it appears that most of these are designed for downforce as well.  Maybe the term Canard is not what I am looking for.  What I had in mind was something to help direct air away from the wheel wells and the wheels themselves. The wheels I plan to use are very open designs which are not very aerodynamic and cause more drag so the more air I can direct away the more benefit I will have.

Add side skirt to prevent air turbulence and more air from entering from the side of the car.

Lighten interior components without sacrificing comfort for my family.

Swap to LS and 5 or 6 Speed.

Aluminum Wheel swap from Steel.

Cut the weight, smooth the body and underside of the car, tighten the suspension up and add a few more gears.  I am already running a 273 in the back so I am not sure where I need to go from there.  I guess that will depend on the tranny I end up with.  

I should be able to get 25 miles to the gallon I believe with these changes.  At least I think so.

I am still reading and learning.  We shall see where it goes from here.  Thoughts?

[dynchel]

These are what you need for aerodynamics wheel wise.  It what they use for land speed cars.

[driveit]

Yeah, but the ones I have planned look much better IMO. lol I had thought about those though, even though I don't think they would look that good on there.

[dynchel]

I don't like them either.  They are cheap though.

[driveit]

The ones I am looking at are about 160 each.

[dynchel]

http://hubcapmike.com/racing_disc_wheelcovers.html

[driveit]

I think this is the perfect color combo for my design. Thoughts?

[dynchel]

  I like it.  You do realize that is probably candy color.  Candy color = $$$

[driveit]

It is, and I know. But man, don't that looks sweet! Candy apply red it said.

[driveit]

Doing more reading on aerodynamics today. Found that for my application it would be better to run a level or even downward angled spoiler on the back to get the greatest effect.

[Joe73]

I think you should also consider at what minimum speed the spoiler would even start to work at. If your not going to maintain that speed for any length of time it might not be worth it. Unless your just going for the cool factor.

[driveit]

Here is the page where I have been doing my reading.
http://www.pro-touring.com/threads/101460-Designing-Aerodynamics-for-Track-Performance

Here is a link to vortex generators.
http://airtab.com/

[driveit]

I think you should also consider at what minimum speed the spoiler would even start to work at.   If your not going to maintain that speed for any length of time it might not be worth it.  Unless your just going for the cool factor.  

Both... lol

[driveit]

Been away for a bit as my work has banned all non work related web browsing.    No changes on the car for now.  Still running good though.  Finished working on a rendering tonight and decided to play around with my own a bit.  Here is how it turned out.  Thoughts?



I am going to add the side mirror and do a better job on some wheels. That was just a quick one there. I plan to do a front angle, straight on front, rear angle and straight on rear. I will also be doing several of the interior to show what I have planned there as well. Can't wait to find the time. Maybe it will be my Christmas present to myself a little design time for my car. lol...

[dynchel]

I like it

[thatfnthing]

Me likee. Now it looks like a burnt orange over a charcoal instead of red over black, and I think it looks way cooler.

[driveit]

Thanks. The color is Enferno Orange. I found it on a Camaro in the last issue of Super Chevy. The other color is black, but I do think the charcoal would look good as well and have pondered on it a few times.

[dynchel]

Spoiler disappeared?

[driveit]

It is a little dark back there. I was getting tired when I stopped. I have a lot more to do before I call it done.

[driveit]

This is not complete by far, but what do you guys think?

[dynchel]

Getting better every time.

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