Posted on 08/12/2014 8:02:01 PM PDT by Jack Hydrazine
February 2, 2009 It might look ugly but this 1992 Honda Civic has double the fuel mileage of a standard Civic simply by lowering the coefficient of drag (Cd) from 0.34 to 0.17 with a little engineering savvy and $400 worth of material bought the local hardware store. In fact the drag on this 350,000 miles (563,270 km) old Civic has been reduced to the point where it is virtually equal to the radical tear drop shaped Aptera which has a Cd of 0.15.
The car's builder Mike Turner says at a highway speed of 65 mph (105 km/h) he can routinely achieve a fuel mileage of 95 MPG (2.5Lt per 100km). The most obvious feature are the wheel covers and Boat Tail which were modeled on a Vintage German 1939 Maybach. The extended tail eliminates the recirculating, low-pressure eddy that forms behind "normal" cars and that act to slow them down. More subtle but just as important additions have been a fully enclosed undertray, the removal of wing mirrors and blocking intake vents at the front of the car and exhausting the radiator air out through the front wheel wells.
Using coast down tests and a SuperMID fuel consumption computer Mike’s next target is to improve mileage during night driving as he has calculated the electrical load from the lights are costing him 2 to 3 mpg with half of this loss being from the parking lights. Mike wants to replace the parking and dome lights with LED's. Check out the Aero Civic web site. http://www.aerocivic.com/
DIY ‘Boat Tail’ Gives Little Car Big Fuel Economy
(64mpg for Geo Metro)
http://www.wired.com/2009/12/boat-tail-geo-metro/
Great gas mileage numbers.
Butt-ugly car.
Sounds like a coffin.
She’s a looker.
to this day our unmodified, stock ‘92 honda civic still gets upto 45 mpg, highway. 1 12V battery standard. what a good car it’s been for us.
betcha nerd chicks would swoon at that cd...
No tie-downs for four by eight sheet materials.
A push-me/pull-you car...
From who? The po-po?
A little Bondo here and there and I think she’s fine
Imagine how much better the aerodynamics would be if he actually knew how to do bodywork. A sledgehammer was involved from the looks of it, lol. Artful matching of that 71-73 Buick Riviera back glass to an early 90’s Civic hatchback, though. Hardly any duct tape was required.
THIS is what THAT was, originally. Wow…!
Man. That thing’s as ugly as sin on Sunday, Jack.
Oscar just hasn’t been the same since he married Stephenie....
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