So Areodynamics?

[GasSavers_GasUser]

Originally Posted by mikemoss

Yeah unfortunately i have the 3.1 I have been planning on putting the tires around 40 for a while but I am not at my house and dont have a compressor.

The 3.1 is not a bad motor. I have it in a 99 Cutlass with 150xxx miles on it and it is peppy and comfortable to drive and very economical on fuel for it's size. It will get an easy 28-30 highway during the summer. Right now with all the cold weather and winter gas it isn't as good.

[GasSavers_mikemoss]

Originally Posted by almightybmw

300 miles? In town type driving? that should be easy, in the winter I can get 350 miles on my GP, '02 with the 3.1L. Granted you have quite a few things stacked against you, but I have faith. Tis a shame that GP was so abused, they are quite nice cars when taken car of.

No mostly highway. I achieved 331 this tank but Im going to say that 300 of those were on the highway at 65 with the cruise on. I really wish this car would have been taken care of a little better but then I probably wouldn't have it. Maybe o2 sensors could help but they are so expensive it would take a while for the mileage to pay for them.

Where does your temp gauge sit? I always think mine runs cold. it sits at the mark between 160 and 210. In my Camaro it always says right at 210.

[almightybmw]

Yeah, that sounds right. If I get up to 210 its because the thermo is sticking or its 110*+ outside. Mostly when running open its around 175-185. I put some cardboard in the grill openings and raised it slightly for in town driving, but I still can't get past 200 for normal driving in the winter. Summer was the same without the grill blockings. I've got a replacement for the thermostat since I don't like it sticking. Last time it stuck it raised to 240 before kicking open, way too hot in my opinion. After opening it usually drops to 170 or so, so I know the cooling ability is very high.

That motor has potential, if you can get it back to good standings. I've logged a few 510 mile highway tanks, one was with 5 people and cargo, so I know 35mpg loaded is possible.

If you can, swap all the fluids to synthetic. I've found that synthetics from intake to wheel has improved my FE a little bit, enough to offset the higher cost.

[GasSavers_mikemoss]

Hey, I would assume that gm or someone did some aerodynamic testing on a car very similar to mine. Does anyone know where to get pictures that would show how air flows around this body style?

Im looking into making vortex generators before the rear window. But I dont know exactly where I should put them or how tall they should be.

I also think I have rethought my initial thought about just extending the existing air dam down. I am now thinking about making some kind of underpan that would go the entire width of the car and include some kind of tire deflector into the design.

I had another idea about using a model of my car and doing some low budget air flow testing with a few fans and some punks for lighting fireworks to see how the air attaches the the deck lid. And then maybe doing scale modifications to the model and testing them before investing in the larger materials to do the real car.

Also just changed the fuel filter hopefully that will free up some mpg.

[GasSavers_mikemoss]

Okay, so I think I found another large aerodynamic problem on this car. When Im going down the highway the hood kinda flaps then when I inspected the front of the car I realized that the hood sticks over the bumper a little bit and there are huge gaps between the headlights and the hood.

When I tried to move the hood it barely budged. I think that on the highway there is air getting under the hood and actually pushing the hood skin up in the middle.

Is there anything I can do about this? I already tried to adjust the hood back and it was already all the way back.

I was thinking that some weatherstripping on top of the headlights and the bumper could keep air from getting in there.

[DRW]

Yes, use weatherstripping along the front of the hood. Hardware stores will have a self adhesive weatherstrip that can be cut and shaped to fit.