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Re: BlueScooby's 06 STI

^A sad truth...


In other news, I am now kinda confused. I expected my mpg to drop on the way back from the beach since I didn't have to radiator blocked off anymore. Instead I got the highest mpg Ive ever seen from cruising at 80-85 with the A/C on! I got 25.6mpg on the way back when 21-22 is average for the speed I was doing...

I have some speculation about this, but long story short, I think there were some circumstances that invalidated my test... I also think I may have stumbled across a ethanol-free gas station before leaving. Thats the only reason I can see my mileage jumping up so high on the return trip.

But, I still think the principle is valid for blocking off the radiator. Blocking it off will also be useful for warming the engine in the winter which is cool.
I think we switched over to our summer mix. in the 40 miles since I last filled my tank, I jumped .2 and thats with flogging it way harder than normal.
 
Discussion starter · #282 ·
Re: BlueScooby's 06 STI

So I just drove to High Point for my brothers birthday yesterday and I did 23mpg there and back... I'm thinking that the underpanels I did have raised the average mpg I'm getting on the highway and I just didnt have any testing to get a new baseline mileage... So I'm thinking I'm going to try to cover the front grille again when we take a trip to Charleston later and see what I get... Hopefully I will actually get some data that makes sense and shows a difference in mileage.
 
Discussion starter · #285 ·
Re: BlueScooby's 06 STI

^ Make sure you use the same before/after gas stations. Don't ask me why, but I notice on long inter-state trips my mileage will vary some from station to station.
That's because pumps lie and temperature affects how much they lie. ;)
Very true. My plan so far was to fill up here, check my mileage on the way down; fill up there and check my mileage on the way back. This introduces potential vairances at the different gas stations, but the idea was that I would be driving the same roads (opposite directions) so the engine loading should be similar. Since both trips will be within a few days of each other, temperatures while filling will hopefully be similar, but I am still at the mercy of the pump :( The mileages I get after filling up here (same station usually) are pretty consistent, hopefully I will get similar gas down in SC and have comparable mileage to report. I honestly think I hit a zero-ethanol station when I left SC last week; Ive never seen anywhere near that mileage doing 80-85 with OR without a/c...:confused:

The reduced drag from covering up my lower radiator would probably be more effective if I ran the tape flush with the front of the bumper, rather than inset on the grille... I might try that too.
 
Re: BlueScooby's 06 STI

You also have a decline/incline going on with your proposed test of ~400 feet over a distance of 280 miles.

With the tools we have its really quite hard to calculate fuel mileage based on all the variables. The best we can do is go based on averages.
 
Discussion starter · #288 ·
Re: BlueScooby's 06 STI

news!

So yesterday I ended up making a trip down to Wilmington for the day with the family (because I haven't put enough miles on the car this month apparently... lol).

Took the opportunity to do another test. Results are a little more in line with my expectations this time.

Trip down (lower radiator taped over): 25.02mpg
Trip back (tape removed): 23.55mpg

For the coolant temps:
Trip down (lower radiator taped over): Ambient 100F, avg coolant temp on highway 203F
Around town (tape removed): Ambient 100F, avg coolant temp 195F
Trip back (tape removed): Ambient 85F, avg coolant temp 185F


Summary:
The high airflow on the highway, and relatively low engine load makes taping off lower radiator opening totally feasible! Coolant temps are in check and OK!

It appears I am back to confirming a ~1.5mpg increase for blocking off the lower radiator opening. I will follow up with another test when we drive down to Charleston.
 
Discussion starter · #296 · (Edited)
Re: BlueScooby's 06 STI

dropping the car off tomorrow at the shop to get the roof repaired :)

in the mean time I pulled the front brakes to cut in cooling air holes in the dust shields:


next up is some roo-ducts and ducting from foglights :)
 
Discussion starter · #297 · (Edited)
Re: BlueScooby's 06 STI - cutting holes into those dust shields :)

in other news, I started training a future rally driver last night:

Future WRC Driver Training - YouTube

I don't think I've ever seen a more pure form of happiness/excitement before in my life; his expression is priceless!
 
Discussion starter · #298 · (Edited)
Re: BlueScooby's 06 STI - foglight ducts

Next step in the brake cooling, rig up the foglights...





I will go back with another, much thicker, layer of epoxy on this next. That first one was just fix the position of the two peices...
 
Discussion starter · #299 · (Edited)
Re: BlueScooby's 06 STI - foglight ducts

Finally got the car back from the shop! Roof looks good, and as a bonus, the Insurance check had enough left to put a new clear coat on the hood scoop :tup:



and here is the first of the two brake ducts (sort of). still supplying air for the intake for now, but will be for brakes instead soon enough :)
 
Discussion starter · #300 ·
Re: BlueScooby's 06 STI - foglight ducts

well, i just ordered the rest of the pieces for the brake ducts.

Rooducts are ordered.
Silicone Hose (black not orange) is ordered

and I ordered a NACA duct to put under the front bumper to add cold air for my intake
Image
 
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