MetroMPG Posted January 6, 2008 Share Posted January 6, 2008 ...as soon as I saw the thing I was thinking about the pre-war Nazi vehicles. Those boys did some SERIOUS work, and it was so mind bogglingly impressive (and ahead of it's time) that it went "nowhere...." Then you won't be surprised to learn where the builder lived for several years, and (if it's not obvious from his photo gallery) caught the bug, so to speak. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MetroMPG Posted January 6, 2008 Share Posted January 6, 2008 Was that a Megaview Megasquirt Controller on the dashboard???? (Sorry, don't know you and can't tell if you're being sarcastic... ) It's a SuperMID (translated) that he added to the car to monitor fuel efficiency - a custom built unit that displays realtime & averaged fuel consumption. It was originally built & used by Prius modders (because the on-board display maxes out at 99 MPG, and many owners have figured out how to far exceed that with driving techniques in certain conditions). The SuperMID has the side benefit that it can also be installed in pre-OBD-II vehicles (like basjoos' Civic) which are too old to use the efficiency enthusiast's instrumentation of choice: a ScanGauge. That said, I do know someone using a Megasquirt to tune for max efficiency in an old Metro. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Woj Posted January 6, 2008 Author Share Posted January 6, 2008 The SuperMID has the side benefit that it can also be installed in pre-OBD-II vehicles (like basjoos' Civic) which are too old to use the efficiency enthusiast's instrumentation of choice: a ScanGauge. Wow, it's a small world. My uncle (and Godfather) is the one who designs and sells the ScanGauge. Worked at Motorola as an engineer for years, this is sort of his retirement hobby. I really liked mine, until I looked at the horrible gas mileage my Honda [Element] got the way I drove it. And Woj, seriously... WHERE did you find that picture?!?!! I have two abcessed teeth right now, and that shot is the only thing thats made me laugh in three days..... Google image search. Oddly enough, it took numerous queries to find a picture of a really riced out hatchback. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete84 Posted January 6, 2008 Share Posted January 6, 2008 God that thing is ugly, but love the work he did. Reminds me of Fluids classes I took in school. Nice work for backyard engineering. I believe one day tru eco-cars will have wild shapes and just be standard for the public. With the rate gas prices are going, plenty of people will pefer cost/function over beauty. Given how current cars are looking, the Camry for example, this Aero Civic at least is interesting. Given the choice for a daily driver, I'd take a vehicle that looks like a '50s future-mobile, tear-dropped and very smooth. Driving to work, school, errands, who needs anything other than mileage, safety, reliability? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MetroMPG Posted January 6, 2008 Share Posted January 6, 2008 Wow, it's a small world. My uncle (and Godfather) is the one who designs and sells the ScanGauge. That's hilarious! Ron's a great guy from all accounts. I interviewed him last winter about the SG, and enjoyed talking with him. And talk about enthusiastic? He clearly enjoys what he's doing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjfawke Posted January 7, 2008 Share Posted January 7, 2008 A slight diversion : I read about this car in a "Car and Car Conversions" magazine about ten years ago. Claimed CD is 0.24. Original car had a massive off around a corner which ripped the driveline out of the car, and was then rebuilt. Web site is here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gollum Posted January 8, 2008 Share Posted January 8, 2008 I think he could have started with a better base (like a CRX HF) but if it's what he had then it's what he had. Do I think it's ugly? Of course. Do I think his efforts were pointless or without meaning? No. What if he's on to something? For all we know we might end up seeing hundreds of college projects of people modifying their vehicle for the sake of science and better mpg. His project should inspire people to show them that it doesn't take time and money to make a difference in their car, it takes WELL THOUGHT OUT EFFORT. He's not really much different than any of us here, just a TOTALLY different goal in mind. If his car ran a 6 second 1/4 mile we wouldn't care what it looked like. I believe one day tru eco-cars will have wild shapes and just be standard for the public. With the rate gas prices are going, plenty of people will pefer cost/function over beauty. You know it's still surprising to me that people here in the bay area continue to buy huge SUVs and trucks when they unquestionably don't NEED them. Who knows what the public will really buy in the future. Overall they're a mass of unpredictable and unintellegent buyers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daeron Posted January 9, 2008 Share Posted January 9, 2008 I think he could have started with a better base (like a CRX HF) but if it's what he had then it's what he had. CRX HF Aerocivic FTW!! if he did THIS to a standard civic hatch, then the HF engine and driveline, combined with that ultra low weight vehicle... and all these mods? That was all I could think of the first time I went through the pictures. My little bro has a CRX HF that was his first car that he has turned into a ratty autoX/street machine with an SI engine/trans.. that thing is about as quick as my stock 280Z was, and DEFINITELY quicker through a turn. To me, the CRX HF represents a pinnacle of "on-the-market" automotive engineering.. a very humble and minor pinnacle, but its one of the more significant peaks in the mountain range IMHO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
badjuju Posted January 9, 2008 Share Posted January 9, 2008 Hi guys - Name's Darin. I'm one of the admins at Ecomodder, where the Aerocivic thread is posted. I just had to register to say this: of the couple of dozen "enthusiast" auto forums that have picked up the Aerocivic for discussion, you guys take the cake - I'm genuinely impressed by the quality of the comments here. You guys "get it". The majority of the other enthusiast forums can't get past sniping about the workmanship & aesthetics to get to the salient points. I tell you, if I were into Z's, this is the forum I'd pick. (Last time I was in one was for several instructional & track days at the now defunct Nissan School of Performance driving in Shannonville, Ont.) Cheers! rofle.copter. I was about to just say "whytf is this conversation still going on, seems like lately a lot of ideas new to this forum get turned into political debate and just stray way off topic and blah blah blah" but if this dude is registering to congratulate us for it, bitch on at each other, guys! lmao edit: thank you Darin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OlderThanMe Posted January 9, 2008 Share Posted January 9, 2008 Get rid of the retarted wings and horrid rear bumper and it would be a pretty cool set of flares. Looks very WRC-ish. Just if it had a DSM AWD drivetrain...That would be cool. Sorry for the threadjack...LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roninjiro Posted January 9, 2008 Share Posted January 9, 2008 nice, but i call bs on the original mpg. i have the 93 civic (bare bones model aka cx) and it was all stock and driven to get the most mpg out of it and i could only achieve 45mpg at the most. now mind you that this is in perfect working order and using the most lightest oils and even compression across the boards. (basically a new car that was broken in) now he claimed 50 to 60mpg stock....BS. i need real data from when he achieved that and how the hell he did it. if he can prove that... i will believe the rest. in my eyes anyone will try to get their 5 minutes of fame... and I'm not buying it without hardcore data to back it up. and this doesn't matter how ugly it is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daeron Posted January 9, 2008 Share Posted January 9, 2008 he never said pre modification.. he said, "before I started Aeromodding it" He also said that the worst mileage he had gotten was with snow tires, in the snow, at about 35 mpg. My car is a 92 Civic CX, which I bought new, and was giving me low 60's to low 50's before I started aero modding it. .... Approximate mileage on a flat road at 85F, 95mpg at 30 to 65mph, 85mpg at 70mph, 65mpg at 80mph, 50mpg at 90mph. Something is telling me this is one of those guys who drives like he has precious eggshells between his foot and the accelerator pedal. And for the love of mike, tone it down, brother! TeamNissan pointed out plainly and simply that these guys have computers that are telling them ON THE FLY numbers for their fuel mileage.. I somehow got the impression that the ~90mpg figure was a maximum figure attained on a digital readout, NOT an average from a 500 mile trip. There is no reason to "call BS" on these guys; if you would read through the thread impartially, instead of letting your experience blind you to the data they are trying to present, then you might notice more details. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikelly Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 Both you guys better check the attitudes or you'll both get a time out of the temporary banning kind. Got it? I owned a 1990 Honda Civic HF and registered 47mpg for two years straight when the car was tuned properly, tires inflated to proper pressures and I was mindful of the gas pedal. I know a thing or three about this particular base model car, because I was stuck driving it for several years as a "second" car. Furthermore, my father, who is my personal hero, registered wel over 50MPG regularly in a Ford Festiva on a very frequent basis. Say what you want, but there are people out there who do what they can to get from point a to point b. They do what they can to stretch a buck and getting great fuel mileage is one of the many. You guys want to debate that, do it elsewhere... The source of discussion here did great things, and some of you are pissing on his design for the sake of what, style??? I believe the numbers could well have been recorded, but hey whatever... Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony D Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 Our Mileage Competition VW Ghia got 52mpg. The Corvair was in the high 40's... I wasn't being sarcastic, I was curious what it was on the dash...it looked like it may have been the Megaview Electronic Dashoboard and the display was unfamiliar to me, so I thought it may have been a new format I was unfamiliar with (and which I wanted!) So it's a different gadget altogether. Hmmm, something else to investigate. LOL Ask anybody here.../sarcasam on/ I'm never sarcastic! /sarcasam off/ LOL At least not in this instance! ROMAFLOL "I digress..." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikelly Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 Tony Tony Tony... Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjfawke Posted January 10, 2008 Share Posted January 10, 2008 ROMAFLOL ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strotter Posted January 11, 2008 Share Posted January 11, 2008 Just to throw a little fuel on the fire, I can confirm (though I expect I'll be considered a liar) that, under ideal, moderate freeway conditions a '93 DX can consistently knock down upper 40's at 62-65 mpg. Early summer cool dry weather, lightly loaded, perfectly tuned, pure freeway conditions with cruise control engaged. I'd like to put my vote on the "style" of the the thing as "elegant in its' purity". Can't you just picture the airflow around the thing? Its design is as single-minded as a stiletto, and just as graceful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nizm0Zed Posted January 11, 2008 Share Posted January 11, 2008 ? Rolling On My Ass F*^%ing Laughing Out Loud Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjfawke Posted January 11, 2008 Share Posted January 11, 2008 Rolling On My Ass F*^%ing Laughing Out Loud Riiiiight. Ambiguous use of the 'F' word - would that jut be a serious LOL, or is a friend required? (No reply expected). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daeron Posted January 11, 2008 Share Posted January 11, 2008 ROMAFLOL ? *I* thought it was an Italian brand of header wrap... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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