robm

That is the most remarkable string of bad luck. Did the drunk have any insurance? Soak it to him for the entire bumper! Although the van driver ought to pay some too, as a rear ender at a red light is a no-brainer 100% at fault.

Lake Wanaka is the best place in the world to skip stones on the water. Every rock on the beach is flat... I walked around the shoreline from town to that point in the photo, skipping stones the whole way there and back. October, 1978. My arm was sore for 3 days.

Is this "ghostwalking?" I thought only the OBW's did it?

Coast down tests are only useful to compare between the same car with and without some neat new feature added to reduce its aerodynamic drag. It is not valid as a comparison between two different vehicles. However it is a good point that the load in the car must be the same for both tests, although this may not be significant if the coast-down is done on the flat, and not down hill. If MPG goes up, CdA must have come down. That wing really makes that much difference? Why didn't all the wagons come with it? I woulld love to see coast-down tests to prove this one.

The XT clip would get rid of the big bluff radiator on the front of the Loyale body. Would probably help. Is the windshield the same angle on the XT as the Loyale? Low angle windshields are good. Another bad spot would be the transition from windshield to roof. Some kind of fairing there might help. A roof rack could be used to support it. Kind of like the ones the semis use to fair in the area between cab and trailer, except this would try to bring the flow back down to the roof. Duct tape and flexy plastic? Maybe well-carved styrofoam? Does the wing on the back do anything except keep the mud off the rear window? (Does it do anything at all?) If it helps pressurize the zone behind the car, it would help. If you want to get really extreme, cut the cargo area roof down and make it into a Kamm back. It would look really cool, that is for sure. But it might turn into a 2 seater.... How about a nose piece between the headlights, to get rid of that bluff body? A lot of the rad is below that, under the bumper, so it might not screw up the cooling too badly. More styrofoam. Easier to manipulate than welding a whole front clip on the car. If it helps, then fair in the lights, too, with clear plastic. This is where the bits of wool taped to the body come in.

That helps. Often, there is a voltage regulator that sends a lower voltage, ( like 8 V or so) to the sender. This way, there is no fluctuation with battery and alternator voltage. It is steady no matter what the charging system does. I would look for voltage on all of them. It shouldn't be too hard. If there is no voltage, start looking for the regulator. Might be in the dash (ouch!).

I agree. The Smart isn't. That was kind of my point. As for the MPG figure, I quoted a European test figure. I knew the US figures were lower. I also know that the US figures are often easy to beat, and that 50 MPG should be achievable, if you try hard. Remember, the US "highway" mileage involves a lot of stop and go! It is not steady state, 60 MPH for hours on end on a flat highway. Under those circumstances, the old diesel Smartfortwos are capable of much higher figures. Real nuts were getting close to 100 MPG (Imperial, about 6/5 more than US). The car still doesn't have enough room in it for a big suitcase. And this is not the point of this thread.

"the only other problem is the gas gauge readsa empty with lo fuel light on." Is that what he meant? It is not what he said...

I got a new strut a year or so back. Lasted until the first time I opened it at -30 deg. C, and the strut failed and blew gas and oil everywhere. Now I have a nice piece of 2x2 cut to hold the hatch open. Works fine, even in the cold. Fits crosswise in the cargo space like it was designed that way. The old Subaru strut went back on, and it actually holds well enough to get the groceries in, the prop stick is only required if doing serious loading/unloading. The hatch is very heavy, and there are lots of nooks to stick the ends of the stick in. It would be hard to accidentally knock it out.

The blower has a relay. It comes on with the ignition. It is up above the fuse box, with a whole bunch more relays, 3 or 4. It is very unpleasant to get to. Just because the gas gauge reads empty, doesn't mean it is. I have at least 2 US gallons left when my Loyale hits E. I don't have a light. The light is to wake you up and tell you to do something about it. The gauge is your first indicator (low level), the light is the second (low-low level, FIX IT!). It is working fine.

There is not a whole lot we can do about the frontal area. But we can play around a bit with the Cd. I agree, comparing between cars, CdA is what we need to compare, but when dealing with just the EA82 body, it is pretty much all the same area. If we did want to compare between cars, we should also consider interior volume, too. How much stuff or people can we jam into a vehicle, compared to its CdA. A two seater with room for a bag of groceries might get phenomenal mileage (Smartfortwo, 50 MPG), but doesn't look near as good when compared to a Subaru wagon hauling 5 people and gear (25 MPG). But the point of this thread is not comparison, it is improvement. Starting point: Sow's ear. Goal: the best bag we can make of it. We KNOW it won't make a "silk purse." Nipper's coastdown test is probably the best idea. But there are so many variables there, too, like air temperature, wind, etc. Make only one change at a time, and make several runs. Ideally, do baseline runs every time, then add the aero mod and try again, to eliminate outside variables. (That could be tough to do with major changes to body shape).

Your method of finding the Cd is kind of suspect. The XT has a Cd of 0.29. The Nissan Cube has a Cd of 0.35. Somewhere in between would be a good bet. Roof racks are bad. The mudflaps are bad. Those little flipup thingies on the nosebra are bad. The exposed wipers are bad. The whole car is so bad, they probably don't make any difference! Smoothing the underside would probably be the easiest single thing you can do. But be careful you don't screw up the flow through the radiator.

Re: oiling the bolts on retorque: It is probably not the threads that are being oiled, but the bolt heads, so that the torque is not absorbed by friction, it actually goes to the thread and stresses the bolt.

The air is colder and denser, so aerodynamic drag is greater. The oil in the tranny and differentials is colder and more viscous. The grease in the wheel bearing is thicker. It all adds up to poor gas mileage in the winter, lots lower than expected from the fuel alone.

There are little switch panels on the left of the dash that just pop out. The switch could be mounted on one, and put back in. Wiring will be fun, as it looks like a copper mine under there, with all the wires, but probably easier than wiring the old dimmer switch on the floor. No holes or brackets to make. For instance, in photo 5, the little rectangular panel next to the vent should just pry out.

It may be possible to get a knob that includes a switch for the 4WD, if you want it. Industrial joysticks for equipment like overhead cranes, etc., use a standard thread for the knob, and they can be obtained with switches built in. An outfit I have worked with that supplies this type of equipment is JR Merritt, in Connecticut. Not cheap, but their stuff is pretty good, and everything they do is custom, so they know how to deal with a one-off. Worth a try, if you want better ergonomics on the switch. The only thing is, it won't be a 1.8 lb block of beautifully-turned stainless steel.

Now that looks like good engineering. It matches the original design concept of the car perfectly: plain, practical, and built for the long haul. A question about your 4wd switch: Is it in easy reach ? I am not sure of your range of mobility, but it looks like it is further away than the original shift knob would be, and you moved the knob, so I am wondering. Instant access can be a real advantage at times.

Regarding your tires: Are they all the same age, or are some newer than others? When were they last rotated, and how long were they on the same axle before they did get rotated? Tire size differential is the most likely problem. Uneven wear between fronts and rears will cause this.

The last Japanese car I pulled the head off was a Datsun 510. The combustion chambers were polished mirror smooth, compared to those. It was bone stock from the factory. The Subaru ones look more like Chevy heads. I am shocked at the drop in standards over the years. Polishing combustion chambers was where a port and polish job started with the Chevies. Unless extensive flow and combustion event testing has shown this to be a myth, I would start by making those chambers smooth. (And I am pretty sure Sir Harry Ricardo liked smooth combustion chambers. Good enough for me.) No chance of making holes in the wrong place, either.

Datsun 510's had coils at both ends. The IRS would be a pain to convert to a trailer. The truck version would make a better trailer, complete with box all ready built, but they all rusted out decades ago.

My bet is on the blower relay. If it was the resistor block, it should still work on high speed. What fusible link feeds the blower on the Brat? Could it fail without shutting down something else?

This makes no sense. Subarus have superior traction and handling capabilities in snow and ice conditions because of their AWD design. But, because of their ABS design, they must be driven SLOWER than other, less capable cars on the road, because they cannot stop as well? I am not recommending that Subarus be driven fast in poor conditions. I know all too well that it is very easy to drive AWD vehicles too fast for the conditons, and not be aware of it until it is too late. With the traction and handling, it is very easy to go way faster than is safe. To have that safe speed further restricted is ridiculous. There has to be a better way.

Is the passenger side cam still turning? Maybe the passenger side cam belt broke?

This photo says it all: http://northword.ca/december-2009/can-you-drive-when-theres-snow I know the fellow that took the photo. He drives a pristine Loyale in British racing green. The attached article may be an eye-opener to those living in Australia, Florida, and other tropical places. It is a pity, but the last paragraph of the article has just happend here: The weather has warmed up, and it is raining on frozen roads. I am on my way south tomorrow, hope it is back to cold, and the salt, sand and plows have made a difference by then. Give me -30 any day.

It will also wear the tires faster. Keep them rotated, too, as even 10,000 miles will wear the front tires enough to notice a clunk as the you shift from 4WD to FWD. And it wont' want to drop out of 4WD, either.