Actually, making a pseudo-factory air dam out of garden edging is a pretty popular $10 mod on Miatas these days.
________________________________ From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Bill Cardell Sent: Friday, June 20, 2008 4:15 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; Robert McElwee Cc: miatapower List Subject: RE: MPG up 74% Roughly a billion years ago we made some front air dams that were real simple and cheap. Get some of that hardware store aluminum angle, maybe 3/4x3/4 and cut out wedges in one face so you can bend it to follow the contour of the lower lip. Bolt it on, leaving a vertical mounting surface. Then you can bolt or rivet on plexiglass or rubber to make the airdam. If you use clear plexi and paint the backside, it stays looking pretty good for awhile. Then if you really get carried away you can buy vinyl gutter, cut it in half and make side skirts for the total pimp look. Bill Cardell TurboDog's Dad www.flyinmiata.com www.fmwestfield.com Sales 1-800-359-6957 Tech 970-464-5600 Before you call, check out http://www.flyinmiata.com/FAQ/ Come to our Open House! August 14-17 ________________________________ From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Chris Sent: Friday, June 20, 2008 2:47 PM To: 'Robert McElwee' Cc: 'miatapower List' Subject: RE: MPG up 74% Here is a similar exercise, if it helps.... Mod #1: Front air dam. They started by making & installing an air dam beneath the Pinto's front bumper to divert as much air flow as possible away from the car's aerodynamically dirty underside. That single change accounted for fully one quarter of their gains. http://metrompg.com/posts/crisis-fighter-pinto.htm ________________________________ From: Robert McElwee [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Friday, June 20, 2008 4:42 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: miatapower List Subject: Re: MPG up 74% No, I pulled the air dam for weight and gave it away. It wasn't the best weight to pull but when you are only concerned with mass you pull everything. Hopefully the underside of the car will be a little less dirty in a month or two. I'd definitely like to work on the area in the back where the gas tank and muffler is. I think there would be plenty of "noise" under there that could be smoothed out with some sheet metal or thin plastic sheeting. I am not sure what will happen if I smooth out the underside where the mid-pipe runs. My Miata has the classic "hot foot" symptom and I don't want to cover anything up that will make the cabin even more unbearable. On Fri, Jun 20, 2008 at 2:01 PM, Chris <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: Do you have an air dam? It seems from everything I've read that keeping airflow from running under the aerodynamically dirty underside really helps. (That and removing the windshield and using a streamlined periscope....) ________________________________ From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Robert McElwee Sent: Friday, June 20, 2008 8:00 AM To: miatapower List Subject: MPG up 74% Original MPG = 20 Current MPG = 34.8 Still no working WBO2 but I did some leaning on all fuel zones this week. No pinging or other problems to report. I'm not exactly sure what the next step is but there are a few things on my list. The 50 PSI tires are a little rough so I'll be putting my Konis on full soft in a few days. It is oil change time and I'll go with a lighter weight oil this time. I might start investigating a partial "mouth" block for aero as well as a warmer thermostat and a change in when the fans kick on. Q: Any way to clean a WBO2 sensor? The sensor is pretty newish (not many miles on it) but it just won't work. I'm guessing I killed it by running too rich. Q: When adjusting yellow Konis to soft, can you screw the adjustment knob too far (clockwise or counter-clockwise?). I remember something about damaging the shocks when turning it too far one way or another but I cannot remember for sure. -- Robert McElwee and Blue Flash "The 40 MPG Miata" www.lightweightmiata.com/mpg Lightweight Miata Forum: www.lightweightmiata.com/forum The Miata Trailer Project: www.lightweightmiata.com/trailer -- Robert McElwee and Blue Flash "The 40 MPG Miata" www.lightweightmiata.com/mpg Lightweight Miata Forum: www.lightweightmiata.com/forum The Miata Trailer Project: www.lightweightmiata.com/trailer
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