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Thoughts on my red greened ecomodded monstrosity

Jesse MS3GT

Querulous
Not sure how many of you remember my winter beater turned sole vehicle(no more Speed3). Bought it in 07 with approx 200k on the odo. Only thought it would last one winter so I didn't maintain it, Now I wish I did. Finally started maintaining around 235k after simply adding oil between oil changes at 8-10kish intervals. It now has 249k on it, bunch of new parts, too(timing belt, wp, struts etc).

Now since I was going to be parking the bike soon, I started ecomodding since I commute 51 miles one way for a mindless pt job.

1991 Civic Si with a whopping 108hp

Pre ecomodding fe numbers.
Summer combined gas mileage w heavy highway miles(regularly seeing 65-75mph): 32/33mpg
Winter: 28/29mpg


Post ecomodding combined winter gas mileage 39/41mpg

Mods:
Passenger mirror delete
Moonroof deflector Delete
Rear spoiler delete
Partial grill block w/front air dam
3/4 undertray
Rear wheel skirts
Kammback

I'm going to use polycarbonate for the kammback once I feel like shelling out 80 bucks for full rear visibility. Currently everything is in prototype stage, although I'm not sure if I wish to spend more on aesthetically pleasing materials and fabrication when the point of this is to save money and have a short ROI. Gorilla tape, zip ties(a must), L brackets, sheet metal screws, 4mil coroplast and 1/2 EMT conduit are what holds this crap together.

Only have two pictures, but oh well. I can't tell you how many laughs I get, or how many idiots in mustangs, hondas, and last week a mini cooper s, try and race me - completely misunderstanding why my car is a freak.


 

dmention7

Hater
When I saw the title I was hoping to see a far more liberal use of duct tape. lol

Those are some pretty impressive results for DIY work. Kinda surprised that the milage wasn't higher to start out with though. I thought those early 90's civics were only like 2400lbs or something. Once you get the aero bits sorted out, I bet you could realize some more pretty significant gains by refreshing the motor a bit. New piston rings, valves and valve seals would likely bump up your efficiency from the front end of things for not a whole lot of dough.
 
D

DrWebster

Guest
Well, if the women don't find you handsome, at least they'll find you handy.
 

Jesse MS3GT

Querulous
I've heard that from many people "there are stock non gay aeromodded civics that get that mileage.". While this is true, people aren't taking things aside from the worn engine into account. Most people who tout their mpg state the summer mpg while going 55mph and not mashing the gas. Plus going from an si with a little more hp and rev happy highway gearing to a dx, vx or cx with less sporty gearing and less power helps with high mpg numbers. 108hp is going to eat more fuel than 72.

I have thought about throwing in an 8v CRX HF engine/transmission combo once this engine dies. The thing that amazes me is the fact I can beat the piss out of this car, and not one gear grinds while shifting. You would think a transmission with this many miles would at least have grinds under normal driving in at least one gear.
 

mndsm

I'M OFFENDED!
I dig it- probably the best modded civic I've seen. Now for the real question, why are you dumping the bike?
 

mndsm

I'M OFFENDED!
More realistic question- what kind of low pressure do you create with that kammback? Considering you've got 80$ into materials, you probably haven't wind tunneled it. I wonder if a shorter design might be slightly more efficient... though I could be wrong. Also, have you done anything about the windshield wiper area? I'm sure if you sealed that a little better, it might work for adding a few MPG. And if you're feeling REALLY exotic- I'd say get some clear plexi and make a slantnose for it- so you can still see your headlights, obviously.
 

dmention7

Hater
There probably is a low pressure area beneath the kammback, but I'd be almost certain it's less than with the original hatch's lines. What may be a cheap fix, until you can get some clear plexi, would be to add some kind of vortex generators to the trailing edge.

One thing I'd be wary about with sealing up the windshield wiper area is that that cowl is where your cabin air comes from. If you get things buttoned up the wrong way, you might impede your ventilation and heating. I don't know how big of a worry that actually is though.
 

Jesse MS3GT

Querulous
More realistic question- what kind of low pressure do you create with that kammback? Considering you've got 80$ into materials, you probably haven't wind tunneled it. I wonder if a shorter design might be slightly more efficient... though I could be wrong. Also, have you done anything about the windshield wiper area? I'm sure if you sealed that a little better, it might work for adding a few MPG. And if you're feeling REALLY exotic- I'd say get some clear plexi and make a slantnose for it- so you can still see your headlights, obviously.
Actually the longer the better, reduces the wake size/// But yes, there is very low pressure under the kammback. When I drove through the snowstorm, snow packed itself in that area.

I was contemplating doing a partial kammback on the bottom, put clear acrylic(plexi) or lexan(polycarb) on the side and seal it up, but at that point I might as well do a boat tail like this.

 

Grappler

Member
It will die when you don't want it too.... and it will outlast any expectations.... lol
Good stuff I wonder if you can buy premade parts like that?
 
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