Metro aerodynamics

[Peakster]

My dad has gone to Las Vegas on vacation so that means I can finally use the garage for aerodynamic modifications without freezing outside.

I finally replaced my barely-working driver side windshield wiper with a "Reflex" blade which doesn't have hinges. Not only should it be good for aero, but it keeps the window streak free:

Attachment 141

Next was the removal of the mirrors. Man, If I knew that the mirrors were this easy to remove I would've done it long ago! Just 3 screws for each door and they're off. I stuffed the holes with paper towel and covered the void with plastic:

Attachment 142

Attachment 143

To compensate for the loss of the side mirrors, I clipped on a large panoramic mirror to the existing interior mirror:

Attachment 144

Up next is the wheels skirts and Kammback.

[MetroMPG]

Good stuff. There's about a 2.3% increase in FE at 90 km/h in mild temps (more in winter).

Don't crash into anyone without the mirrors - takes a while to adjust your driving to compensate. (You WILL find yourself automatically looking to where they used to be, for a while.)

[Peakster]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

Don't crash into anyone without the mirrors - takes a while to adjust your driving to compensate. (You WILL find yourself automatically looking to where they used to be, for a while.)

Yeah, I know what you mean. I drove to Wal-mart just before they closed tonight so I could get a panoramic mirror (after removing the side mirrors), and I never knew just how much I used the mirrors until they were gone. Kept looking at the void space . The panoramic mirror covers everything except behind my head. I'm planning to mount a convex mirror on the inside of the driver's door like basjoos did.

A 2.3% inclease in FE is quite substantial for little cars like ours!

[MetroMPG]

That's a good point.

You won't see a definitive difference in tank to tank comparisons from removing 1 outside mirror. The change is too small (which isn't to say it's not effective, just that it's effect will be lost in normal FE variability).

[MetroMPG]

Ah! OK. All that should show up, I'd wager, comparing highway tanks.

[green swift]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

not sure if these images will show up in this forum

these pics does anybody sell them????

[MetroMPG]

Nope. Think you've got to roll your own.

[MetroMPG]

Undertray

[Peakster]

My dear mother gave me her old kitchen table and chairs (can you tell that my parents are just itching for me to leave the house? ) and when I stuffed them into the Geo, only the table's legs could only fit in the hatch. The table top was sticking out with the hatch wide open, creating tons of drag.

It was late at night so I took the Trans Canada Highway back to my dad's house doing 35 mph. I couldn't believe it. I needed 0.7 GPH to keep the Geo in the 33-35mph range all the way home (around 50mpg at that speed) 0.7GPH got me into the high 45-48 mph range just hours before (around 65mpg).

Clearly aerodynamics play a big role even at low speeds since the table and chairs only weigh 100 pounds at most.

[Peakster]

Originally Posted by theclencher

Wind- how strong and what direction?

At 8:30pm is when I drove home and the temperature then was -11*C (12.2*F) with winds coming from the south-east @ 20km/h (12.4mph).

Earlier that day, (let's take 1:00pm for instance) 0.7 GPH got me into the 45-48mph range and the weather at that time was around -9*C (15.8*F) with north-west winds @ 7km/h (4.3mph).