Has anyone installed a ground effects kit on a hybrid? If so, what effect did it have on FE? Did the improved aerodynamics offset the added weight? Did the "in town" FE suffer but the "highway" FE improve? Inquiring minds want to know.

I am particularly interested in doing this on my HAH

 

Stated Cd on the Accord is 0.30 - 0.29 with spoiler. Not tops, but excellent just the same.

 

Depends probably on what type of kit you are looking at. Any photos of the one your intereted in? Have you lowered your HAH or done anything else to it?

 

A ground effects kit is going to be purley visual. It will not help the aerodynamics in any way.

If anything it could hurt your FE soley because of the added weight. But most kits (unless you mold it to the car) are relativly lightweight and I doubt you would notice any change.

As an example I put a ground effects kit on my 2002 Cougar. It probably weighed all of 30 lbs. The only thing I noticed different is the car looks **** good.

So I would say if you want the kit. Go for it. Your car will look better, your pocket book will be lighter and you'll still get the same FE.

Brant

 

I haven't lowered the car or done any modifications yet. Just one of the kits I was looking at is this one:

http://www.eautoworks.com/html/ORD-1-1-1-15738.cfm

It looks nice. I think I would stay with the stock spoiler though. I mostly wanted to dress the outside up to match what I think is an already nice interior. Added FE would be a nice bragging point. And, it would be nice to cruise a little faster on the highway (70 - 75 mph) and not lose a lot of FE.

 

"ground effect" kits that are street legal have virtually zero effect on performance, and increase drag a fraction.

In order to be of benefit, the skirts have to be close enough to the ground to almost seal and maintain low pressure/suction. That's good for handling, bad for efficiency- frontal area effectively gets increased and the energy to maintain suction comes out of your car's motion.

Purely cosmetic, maybe hurt mpg a little. The Honda guys worked very hard to reduce drag and weight (no sunroof, aluminum hood, no spare).

 

I feel most ground effects kits are hideous! Not a fan, but of course, to each his own.

I think GoNavy hit it on the head. Adding a ground effects kit would result in less FE due to the car was already manufactured for maximum FE. If an undercar spoiler skirt would really improve FE to any noticeable degree, it would have been standard or optional equipment. Of course, I don't design cars. So, my opinion is really worthless.