It's not a joke but the results would have to be repeated several times by organizations with stellar credentials before I'd jeopardize my paint with airtabs. Devices that help air break cleanly free from the car are nothing new (spoilers, ground effects etc.) but the effectiveness needs to be proven. Often spoilers or whatever look good on the car and that might stimulate the buyer to go ahead but, with airtabs, that's not the case.
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08 BBP MT absolutely stock!
Getting 38MPG with "moderate" hypermiling. Going for 40!
Heres what im thinking..
If you are willing to go as far as putting some tabs on your car to "smooth out the air" in an attempt to get better MPG. Why didnt you save 1000$ when you bought your AT Fit, and got MT Fit which gets a good deal better MPG then the AT, and you dont have to try nearly as hard to get the good MPGs...? I mean, if you dont know how to drive a MT vehicle, learn, you are obviously going to great lengths for a possible couple(at the most) MPGs.
Just doesnt really make sense to me.
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No more Crotas. . .
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07 Honda fit Sport VBP-
-Tanabe Concept G Exhaust,Tanabe Springs GF210, Injen Cai/Sri-Gram Lights 16x7 57c Rims w/ Toyo Proxes 4 205/40/16-Spoon Resevoir Tank Cover,Spoon Short Antenna,Seibon CF OEM hood -Blue Rays Engineering Lug Nuts-JDM center console, Honda Access JDM Coin Holder ,JDM Window Visors,JDM Sun Visor-OEM Trunk Cargo Cover,Locking Gas Fuel Cap-Cusco Front Strut Bar, Progress Rear Sway bar, J's Racing C pillar bar
well, those on the Evo are mainly used to bend the air to the huge wing behind and increase rear down force.
Right. They redirect airflow over the wing. There are windtunnel videos around, very interesting stuff. Subaru did the same to the STi in 2007.
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since you go this far, you should put those taps on the rest of the lower area & side bumper, no (?)
I was thinking about running a line of them along the underside of the bumper, where I wouldn't have to look at them.
Seriously, I want to rig up some kind of panel to prevent the rear bumper from having a 'parachute effect', and it might make sense to run a line of Airtabs along the edge while I was at it.
Heres what im thinking..
If you are willing to go as far as putting some tabs on your car to "smooth out the air" in an attempt to get better MPG. Why didnt you save 1000$ when you bought your AT Fit, and got MT Fit which gets a good deal better MPG then the AT, and you dont have to try nearly as hard to get the good MPGs...? I mean, if you dont know how to drive a MT vehicle, learn, you are obviously going to great lengths for a possible couple(at the most) MPGs.
Just doesnt really make sense to me.
Well, I'm a columnist for autochannel.com, so it's part of my job and my joy to try things out, and report about how I find they work. My "A More Perfect Fit" uses as a testbed my car, which is a 2007 AT Sport, and not an MT. But which transmission I decided to buy for whatever reason is irrelevant - any improvement from airtabs would work on an MT as well as an AT.
So far I'm finding increased coasting distance, stability in winds, smoother ride, raised mpg on the highway and in the city, no splashback on the rear window in rain and better handling. As an example of stability in winds, my wife and I recently found ourselves on the highway when Hurricane Ike's 40-60mph gusts blew over Louisville. I was barely pushed around the road - I was amazed. Before airtabs I'd experienced a lot more wind effect.
If you're interested in exploring it further, check out my column on airtabs in a few weeks on autochannel.com, or check out airtabs.com and research for yourself.
Sometimes technological improvements come in surprisingly simple, counter-intuitive ways. One of them seems to be this backwards-looking wishbone device that sticks on the car. I was skeptical myself that I'd find any benefit at all on an already aerodynamic car, so I can understand the skepticism here. But, I'm impressed--it's a humble but significant improvement that doesn't take a ton of money or time or special installation.
As an example of stability in winds, my wife and I recently found ourselves on the highway when Hurricane Ike's 40-60mph gusts blew over Louisville. I was barely pushed around the road - I was amazed. Before airtabs I'd experienced a lot more wind effect.
I have had the same experience since installing a Beatrush underpanel. Before installation the car was quite sensitive to side gusts, and it got buffeted around pretty much by semis. Since installing the underpanel those effects are all but eliminated. An added benefit is that the car feels much more 'planted' during my favorite offramp excursion, a 60mph romp around a 270 degree arch which tightens up oh-so slightly just before the exit.
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Sometimes technological improvements come in surprisingly simple, counter-intuitive ways.
Absolutely correct. Smoother air is not always beneficial, and this is one of those cases. Another example is the tabs above the rear window on Mitsubishi Evos. They are there to break the laminar flow over the roof of the car. Without them, the air would follow the roofline and tumble down over the rear window. With the tabs the roof contact is broken, and the airflow moves towards the rear wing where it can generate more downforce.
Subaru added a small spoiler above the rear window on '06/'07 STi's for the same reason.
Airtabs aren't pretty, but I have no problem believing that they are effective.
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