Polishing a Turd: aerodynamic improvements for a Subaru Wagon
 

Ok, I thought I'd just keep this car for the winter and then sell it in the spring and get something more FE. Wrong. NO ONE is selling a FE car around here anywhere near my price range. At least not yet. So, now that the snow is out of my yard it's time to tackle some mods on my '96 Suabaru Legacy L wagon, Auto, AWD.

So far AWD is disabled by fuse, AC belt is removed, tires pumped up, and I'm working on a driving style that the on board computer likes. (this is a tough nut for me to crack.) So far I've made it from 20mpg up to about 26mpg on driving style, but the car works better above 55mph. Matter of fact FE drops if I drop down to 40-50mph.

Below is part of the spec listing from Road and Track.

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Coefficient of drag: 0.37
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Driver and passenger power black door mirrors
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External dimensions: overall length (mm): 4,671, overall width (mm): 1,715, overall height (mm): 1,450, ground clearance (mm): 155, wheelbase (mm): 2,629, front track (mm): 1,461, rear track (mm): 1,455 and curb to curb turning circle (mm): 10,577

Weights: curb weight (kg) 1,390, (that's 3064 lbs.)gross trailer weight braked (kg) 0 and gross trailer weight unbraked (kg) 0

__________________________________________________ _______________

So, in short, it weighs more than my mother in law and has the aerodynamics of a brick. A large lumpy brick.

I'm on a tight budget, but I need to do something here. Any ideas?

Plans so far:
grill block
lower grill and foglamp block
belly pan (partial at least)
rear wheel well covers
pizza pan hub caps, unless there's something better/cheaper

So this is what it looks like (mine has hubcaps and a stupid roof rack, which I do use)
https://www.fuelly.com/attachments/fo...3d4cac6fce.jpg

And this is what I was thinking for changes:
https://www.fuelly.com/attachments/fo...94fcfcd27f.jpg

I can't delete mirrors, and I almost wish I could strip the interior, AWD and any other extras, I could probably drop 1000lbs, but it needs to be a family car, in Vermont.

Ideas? Critique? INSTRUCTIONS!!!???

Thanks
Mike

I'm surprised that your FE is about the same as mine. My Forester is more of a brick and higher off the ground.

Go for narrower tires, think about skirts that flare towards front and rear tires, diffuser at the back and a skirt on the front bumper that flares downward toward tires as well.

Remove all the AWD equipment from the transmission back. Driveshaft, differential, axles. Re install it in the fall. Lower the rear suspension as much as possible. Maybe airbag suspension. It will reduce overall height and reduce the angle of the windshield. Should help a lot with aero.

talked to mechanic about it already....

taking it out, about $200
putting it back, about $1700

I guess putting it back in (properly) is a royal pain in the arxe. Completely rebuilding the entire back end would only be another $100-$200. He rebuilds Subaru's up here constantly, always been very fair on prices. Very much a buy the book minus "x" amount of discount. (My last brake job was $18 labor) He told me to just find a second car, it'd be cheaper. (He doesn't sell cars either)

He did say that if I had a stick it'd be much easier, but still not worth it. (We'll have snow again starting in late September/mid October)

Put in speed holes. Simpsons reference. :D

Seriously I'd look at getting a different vehicle. What are your reqirements and price range? Subarus with AWD should have a good resale or trade value.

Narrower tires are more aerodynamic, but at the same pressure they will have more rolling resistance. I don't know which one costs/provides more MPG.

My mechanic agrees with you. I'd love to get a different vehicle.

Requirements: 20 days of the month, commuting on rolling hills. 10 days a month commuting on the same hills with 3 kids (one is a teen) and their stuff... back of the wagon is 1/2-3/4 full on those days.

I tried a Civic EX, but the trunks was too small.:(
Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

There's not really a lot of options for you, needing AWD for snow and a wagon. A small SUV (I know that's heresy here but sometimes they're appropriate) or a minivan might do. If you can live without AWD, a Camry wagon would work, if you could find one in decent condition.

The Jeep Patriot FWD is incredibly cheap and practical if you were in the market for a brand new/late model used vehicle, but I don't know if its good EPA ratings are as good in the 4WD version.

I had a VW Golf before and it was just fine. Barely enough cargo room and I'm really just fine with FWD + studded snows.

Actually, I prefer it. I don't like the illusion that comes with AWD that traction is better and speeds can be higher in crap weather. I like the tactile feedback that FWD gives, if it's slippery, you know soon as you touch the gas, not soon as you need the brakes.

The GT-trimmed Legacy had better aerodynamics - front lip, sideskirts and a rear duckbill spoiler. I'd start there and put on some pizza-cutter alloys from the 1990-1991 Legacy (I have some for sale, name your price).

For the drivetrain, the lowest trim level of the Legacy (pre-'98 only, if I recall correctly) had FWD. Swapping this transmission (manual, of course) onto the back of your engine and removing the driveshaft, rear differential and rear axles will save you a massive amount of weight and also about 5% drivetrain losses. It's fairly easy to swap in a manual transmission with a service manual (can be found in its entirety online) and guidance from sites such as NASIOC.com.

Please email me if you have any other questions about these cars. FWD Legacies can be made to drive just as well in the snow as AWD Legacies, and the cars are more aerodynamic than competing station wagons - your turd has potential.

What about a Toyota Matrix or Mazda 5?

Or, if you're on the cheap, get an Escort Wagon. Depending on the year and miles, they can be had for $1-3k, and they get 30+mpg w/o any hypermiling.

fueleconomy says:

1996 subaru legacy wagon AWD 2.2L 19mpg city 26mpg highway, 22 combined, old EPA is 22/29!, and new EPA matches what users report.

So don't expect to save by switching car... Stick with it and change when you can afford a decent car instead. Good luck with that because Subies are solid cars, especially a 2.2L engine won't die unlike 2.5L which have headgasket issues.
Priuses get 47mpg driving like a pig in mountains and do have a lot of space. If you want ultra small with similar MPG, get a 3 cylinders geo metro beater or a toyota echo as a 2nd car.

For FE, did you start by an engine tune-up... new filter, new spark plugs, plug wires, air filter, synthetic oil with low 1st number like 5W30 or 0W30 instead of 10W30?

If you switched from 20mpg to 26mpg by driving habits alone, maybe you're already stuck with a car yielding poor MPG, and the tune up would help, esepcially if you find what is making it inneficient.

Every time I see the title of this thread, it makes me smile. :)

i agree :D

How about a saturn sl series? It looks like they are in the same price range as a civic or cheaper. The five speed manuals in the garage are getting around 40 mpg.

Yeah, it sounds like a second car wouldn't be very worth it unless you got one of the really tiny commuters (like VX, CRX, etc). In the size you want you'd probably get 30-35 and if you can get yours up to 30 that'd be good enough.

My suggestion would be to get a used 250R Ninja and get 70MPG when it's nice out and use your car for family/winter.