While windtunnels have long been employed in
aerospace and all forms of race engineering, we’re likely to see them
employed more frequently in future in the quest for improved fuel
efficiency from our automobiles. Ecomodder.com’s Darin Cosgrove
recently added this 1.37 tailpiece to his Pontiac Firefly to improve
its drag coefficient from 0.34 to 0.23 and its fuel efficiency by 15.1
percent at 90kmh (56mph).

The 15 percent improvement is just from the
tail, and was comprehensively proven with multiple bi-directional
averaged runs at exactly 90kmh on a straight and level road, with no
other traffic. The tail was removed and reinstalled during the test so
the ‘A-B-A’ comparisons could be made in identical conditions.

The moral of the story is that it’s just as
important to leave the air undisturbed as it is to slice through it
effectively and one wonders just what shape our cars (and trucks) will be a few decades from now given the remarkable results of this homemade fuel extender.

Via Wired from Ecomodder.com