Jalopnik
If we learned anything from An Inconvenient Truth, it was that environmentalism starts at home. It's in that spirit that we present the Aerocivic, a 1992 Civic CX with a super low coefficient of drag courtesy of extensive aeromodding. After about 250 hours of work and $400 in supplies, this boattailed Civic achieved a 90-day average of 67.5 MPG (US).
While it may not be the best looking ride on the road, it's hard to argue with performance.
The end result is a car with such low drag that the results of coastdown testing is linear out to 90mph (it coasts almost as well at 80mph as it does at 50mph). I have to get it over 90mph before I start to feel the wind load from high-speed driving. OEM max speed was 95mph. I have had it up to 100mph with plenty of power remaining at that speed (estimated top speed of about 140mph). Wind noise is much reduced from stock. Approximate mileage on a flat road at 85F, 95mpg at 30 to 65mph, 85mpg at 70mph, 65mpg at 80mph, 50mpg at 90mph.In the future, this rad ecomodder plans to create an adjustable radiator door in order to adjust engine cooling on the fly. [EcoModder]
Comments
Guy needs to learn how to work with fiberglass.
imagine using a balanced 3 main boxer engine in that crazy looking thing....
What a disaster, I'll take 25mpg and not looking like a retard over that.
excellent craftsmanship. *golf clap*
Uncle Owen... Can I take the Aerocivic over to Toshi Station to pick up some Power Converters?
This fellow (additional, and more accurate adjectives and adverbs deleted on advice of counsel) is looking at ways to reduce the mpg requirements of his headlights by selectively dimming them and/or shutting one off at times.
Yikes. Aerodynamic, ugly, and soon to be intentionally in violation of lighting standards.
1992 Civic CX!
...oh sorry, I thought this was another edition of the Winter Guessing Game...
wait.. wasn't it the DX that was the high-mileage civic in '92?
Oh...it looks like one of the A-BAT's designers managed to escape.
How about driving a Civic HF gently, and not looking like an idiot.
I can only imagine what parking is like...besides being downright entertaining to watch.
@buck23: I agree, looks like one of those elementary school paper-mache sculptures.
I applaud the effort, but they do need to take a class on aerodynamics and smooth out that Dinosaur bone face CRX.
Looks like the same Guy who built Bob & Doug McKenzie's "Spaceship Van" in Strange Brew. Great Movie by the way. eh?
Chip Foose must have been involved - no rear view mirrors.
The craftsmanship leaves a lot to be desired, and I'd be curious about and/or scared of lift at higher speeds. ("It's a bird! It's a plane! No, it's Aerocivic!")
Even so, it's interesting in the same way watching a train wreck is interesting. Now, add some nitrous, maybe a turbo'ed VTEC ricer motor, some downforce and safety gear, and I bet it'd easily make the 200-mph club at Bonneville...
"67.5 mpg"...of Bondo.
How does he turn? Can he even turn the whell lock to lock without rubbing?
@SLRSpeedshop: It's a jelly!
Hang on a minute i'm loading my gun...
Did Wile E. Coyote build this? Only he would pilot a cobbled together rolling disaster at 100 mph--
The Acme Aerodynamic!
@PaulE: "The craftsmanship leaves a lot to be desired" haha that's an understatement.
I applaud the amateur experiment. At lease it's not "rice".
Ingenious use of metal rollers to prevent the tires from rubbing the wheel opening flaps.
It can go 90 mph? Really? Where do you hide the Acid you leftist pig?
Wow, I wonder how it feels to know you're the smartest guy in the trailer park. Too bad being the smartest guy in the trailer park is still like being the least retarded guy in the Special Olympics. You know even I am amazed at how mean that sounds but I can not think of a more appropriate way to verbalize my feelings on this ingenious piece of human ingenuity / stupidity. I mean seriously driving this at 90mph is just begging for a ticket, because its not as though this thing is incon-fucking-spicuous.
Hmmm... I'm having trouble deciding what's weirder: this car, or the fact that we're content to buy & drive giant boxes on wheels down our highways at 80 mph while grumbling about the price of gas.
Hmmmm. Never heard of Wunibald Kamm, has he.
No way in hell that thing would go 140mph! The wind would rip all the paper mache off.
DIY A-BAT body kit
It's also very environment-friendly. If rear-ended, the car will vaporize into billions of little rust and fiberglass particles, thus eliminating the need to crush it.
what did he build that out of? bondo over cardboard held together with dict tape and hooker spit?
@FatBraff: No young Luke, the aerocivic gets stuck in the sand.
Interesting how the rear hatch looks to be very well done, while the rest of the bodywork is so choppy. i wonder how many US Postal Service plastic bins gave up their lives for that that...
@streetpirate: Hmmmm. Hooker spit. Is there nothing it can't do?
@milo_carrera: Can't beat 'dict' tape either!
I wonder if he did anything to the underside of the car. I saw pictures of someone covering the entire underside of a Volvo 960 with aluminum sheeting, apparently it was worth a few mpg's.
So this is what the boys from Unique Performance have been up to lately. The Honda Civ-ICK!
I can't decide whether that's awesome or horrifying. Both, i guess.
This thing is the diametric opposite of the Stealthing discussion we had a few days ago about Murilee and his Civic or Crown Vic. Nothing stealthy about all that fiberglass.
Over 90 days, its delivered 67.5mpg. Lets call that "double" the norm, at least for a Civic, 34mpg isn't unachievable. Thing was probably rated for 40mpg when it was built anyway...
250 hours x $60/hr = $15,000 - plus supplies, $400, giving us a grand total of $15,400. Can't argue that his time's worth nothing, its still shop time.
For that money mind you, our Honda enthusiast could have bought himself an off-lease Civic Hybrid, or an Insight. Maybe a Prius if he's not a Honda enthusiast after all and he's just another "green" asshole with a shitty car.
Even if his time's only worth $20/hr - consider the man could have just worked a second job for those 250 hours - he's still invested $5,400 into a beater Civic which he'll never get a positive return for investment from. The average American spends less than $1200 per year on fuel - if he spends half that, it'll take him nine years in his awful humiliating Civic to break even.
Not fucking worth it, period. Leave the boat tails to the tractor-trailers. They need em, though you won't see many using em outside high-end transport in the Northeast.
@Schm: I've been up to 170 km/h (indicated) in my old '94 Civic (with the 1500cc engine) before remembering that I hadn't really checked tyre pressures beforehand, so I don't think that 90 mph is that far of a stretch. But with an aerodynamic profile something akin to an aerofoil, I wouldn't want to be in this particular Civic at 90 mph.
@FLB: Extra-long crumple zones for extra safety as well as lower drag.
I really don't think this guy has read anything about aerodynamics or talked with any Bonneville racers (the place, not the Pontiac--oh, never mind.) V1650 already mentioned that this guy is ignoring the lessons of Dr. Kamm, and WILD_ZERO pointed out that the profile will probably create enormous lift. My idea for a high-mileage Civic would be to take a stock hatchback, add a bellypan to smooth out the airflow under the car and then use tall, skinny tires with Moon discs. It will weigh less than this plastic abomination, and you won't look quite as stupid. Although, let's face it, you'll still look pretty damn stupid.
looks like a poor man's PininFarina Modulo
Needs more wing! That way it can look like a Superbird.
I'm sure Wings West already has a call in to this guy to buy the design plans.
I think I had this Hot Wheels car, actually.
@dankicksass: You'd think he'd at least drop in a real engine to bring him back down to 30MPG...
@dankicksass: not worth it for you, certainly. worth it for this guy, who can surely be happy that he didn't sit on his ass for the 250 hours watching the zombie box.
@jakay11:
The VX was the high-mileage Civic back in 1992
It looks a billion times better than any of the crap the ricers do.
Homer really did design a car, I knew it!
@Triborough: Agreed.
I'm going to swim against the mainstream on this one and say that I think this is both cool and interesting. The guy seems to be taking a logical try-and-test approach to see how much fuel efficiency improvement he can get. On a shoestring budget. With what looks to be his daily driver. Without much reliance on 'store bought' parts and pieces or outside experts. Or much concern about non-result effecting things like aesthetics.
This is no worse a way to spend time and money than, say, freezing your butt off this weekend at Thunderhill. Or nursing an old beater through 800 miles on the California Melee. Or trying to shave a few seconds off one's lap times at Sears Point.
"(estimated top speed of about 140mph). "
lol hahahaha
thats some real scientific estimation there.