Improve fuel economy with foils attached to car

General discussion about our beloved Tercel 4WD cars
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Petros
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Improve fuel economy with foils attached to car

Post by Petros »

Check this out, looks like vortex generators to reduce flow separation, that should reduce drag. kind of pricy, but I might make some and give it a try. works on aircraft, might work on cars too.

http://gaspods.com/gaspod-details.html
4doorVIP
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Re: Improve fuel economy with foils attached to car

Post by 4doorVIP »

Ah yes, anyone familiar with the Mitsu Lancer EVO will recognize these.
Image

Here's an article about them:
http://www.mitsubishi-motors.com/corpor ... 16E_03.pdf
danzo
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Re: Improve fuel economy with foils attached to car

Post by danzo »

I always thought the Evos were high-speed storm chasers?!? I bet the car vortex generators are marketed to the democratic crowd who will gobble up any enviro-saving nonsense that comes across their computers. No wonder they are offered in "hey-I'm-saving-the-world" neon colors. Krickey.
speedgraphic
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Re: Improve fuel economy with foils attached to car

Post by speedgraphic »

danzo wrote:I always thought the Evos were high-speed storm chasers?!? I bet the car vortex generators are marketed to the democratic crowd who will gobble up any enviro-saving nonsense that comes across their computers. No wonder they are offered in "hey-I'm-saving-the-world" neon colors. Krickey.
Not sure what's "democratic" about reducing drag?
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Neu
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Re: Improve fuel economy with foils attached to car

Post by Neu »

He's talking about american democrats being environmental hippies, which is, in my opinion, a very dumb, bigoted and generalized thing to say. Whatever though. If someone wants to me false generalizations like that let them think what they want, I'd hope they would keep that opinion to themselves though.

-Dont derail this thread though, anymore talk about it will result in a suspension.
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Petros
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Re: Improve fuel economy with foils attached to car

Post by Petros »

thought I would supply some pictures:

Image

How they are supposed to work:

Image

close up:

Image

they call themselves "podpeople", so it appears they are not democrat or Republican, but alien invaders. :shock:
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dlb
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Re: Improve fuel economy with foils attached to car

Post by dlb »

Petros wrote:they call themselves "podpeople", so it appears they are not democrat or Republican, but alien invaders. :shock:
lol
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splatterdog
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Re: Improve fuel economy with foils attached to car

Post by splatterdog »

Without some labcoats and a windtunnel, I feel these would be as effective an enhancement as peel and stick hoodscoops. A lot less scam than the water for gas guys though.

Plus, any gains would be negated by all the question answering about those weird bumps on your car. :lol:

By the time you get it figured out, you might look as bad as those Mitsu engineers from 4doorVIP's link. Looks like mugshots..
teranfirbt
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Re: Improve fuel economy with foils attached to car

Post by teranfirbt »

It'd be interesting to see results from a long term test... A lot of the time these sorts of things "show results" because the people testing them unconsciously change their driving habits in the short term to try to save fuel. I can do that by myself without silly stick on bumps, all I have to do is stay out of the secondary on the Weber and I'll gain 2 mpg commuting to work.... It's just way less fun :P
hberdan
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Re: Improve fuel economy with foils attached to car

Post by hberdan »

I suppose if you are driving primarily on high speed roads, there might be a small benefit. Otoh, the Tercel wagon is so ~non-aerodynamic~that there is little hope for improvement.
"I'm high on the real thing: Powerful gasoline, a clean windshield, and a shoeshine."
teranfirbt
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Re: Improve fuel economy with foils attached to car

Post by teranfirbt »

Actually, cars that have poor aerodynamics will see more significant improvements from small changes than a car that is already aerodynamic. It's like fuel economy, going from 10 to 13 mpg is a much much larger improvement than going from 40 to 43 mpg.
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