It's absolutely hideous

[mjh]

There's no two ways about it - this car is ugly as sin and as rough as a shipping pallet. But that doesn't matter because it gets 95 mpg.

Its owner, known only as "basjoos," says he spent $400 building "Aerocivic" in his yard using things you can get at hardware and art supply stores. That pretty much invalidates auto industry arguments about it being difficult and costly to build super fuel-efficient cars. It also makes him a contender for the Automotive X-Prize, a $10 million challenge to build the first 100-mpg car.

Check out Wired to see the rest

Even though it gets great gas mileage, would you drive something so ugly?

 

[palehorse]

I think he's shooting a bit low with the goal of 100mpg.

The folks over HERE are planning to build a 300mpg version of the Apter Typ-1...

Still, the guy deserves kudos for making a civic CX even uglier than it was before!

The question we REALLY need an answer for is this one: Why do greener cars have to be so g'damn ugly?!

I hope Tesla Motors gets their "affordable" model ready before 2010... they might be our only hope for a decent looking electric car!

 

[mjh]

Originally posted by: palehorse74
The question we REALLY need an answer for is this one: Why do greener cars have to be so g'damn ugly?!

Oddly enough, a guy on a different person I post on asked the very same thing this morning!

 

[IvanAndreevich]

That's incredible for no engine mods, just aerodynamic stuff IMO.

 

[ahurtt]

From the article:

Granted, the Civic is a lightweight car with a small engine and a lot of the improvement in basjoos' fuel economy can be attributed to his hypermiler driving style.

So what proportion of the fuel economy increase is due to his driving style and what proportion is due to the pointy cones he stuck on the car? (Keep in mind the article stated that car already got 50 MPG without any modification.)

Also, does the $400 include the cost of the initial (assumedly used) Honda Civic on which this car was based?

 

[homercles337]

Maybe i just spent too much time at TheOnion, but i thought this was a joke.

 

[OokiiNeko]

Considering what cars were getting 25 to 30 years ago its no surprise at all.

 

[NoShangriLa]

Will be on sales by the end of 2008 @ 125 miles/$1.50 electricity

 

[CaptnKirk]

Ugly is as ugly does.

In the pic that Palehorse74 shows, you see the single most important areodynamic feature that is shown on the Hideous.
It's the 'Stinger' or afterbody trailing cone.
Shuttle has one as well

80% of the parasitic drag of a vehicle, ground or flight, occurs in the back - where thre airstream separates
creating a low pressure ares - a 'hole' in the air behind it.
if you could reduce the after-body drag liability by half, you could easily reduce more drag than if you could eliminate all other drag producers combined.
You target the trailing wake for maximizing efficiency, any other gains are bonuses.

The other method to gain efficiency is in weigh reduction, as light and as strong as each and every detail can be made.
There once was a demonstration done at a drag race, where a vehilce was reduced by 200 Lbs each run,
including cutting out or removing parts or chunks of metal.
Each run was 'quicker' than the previous, even though some of the later runs were slower in MPH-
the lighter vehicle always accelerated quicker, and was more energy to mass efficient.

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

Originally posted by: ahurtt

Also, does the $400 include the cost of the initial (assumedly used) Honda Civic on which this car was based?

No. He says he bought it new in 1992.

 

[Throckmorton]

Originally posted by: palehorse74
I think he's shooting a bit low with the goal of 100mpg.

The folks over HERE are planning to build a 300mpg version of the Apter Typ-1...

Still, the guy deserves kudos for making a civic CX even uglier than it was before!

The question we REALLY need an answer for is this one: Why do greener cars have to be so g'damn ugly?!

I hope Tesla Motors gets their "affordable" model ready before 2010... they might be our only hope for a decent looking electric car!

The only reason it's ugly is that it's homemade. An aerodynamic car can obviously be pretty.

 

[Auric]

Yeah, and it can't be parked in regular spaces and the hatch is effectively disabled and a hassle to load/unload cargo through the two doors.

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: CaptnKirk
The other method to gain efficiency is in weigh reduction, as light and as strong as each and every detail can be made.
There once was a demonstration done at a drag race, where a vehilce was reduced by 200 Lbs each run,
including cutting out or removing parts or chunks of metal.
Each run was 'quicker' than the previous, even though some of the later runs were slower in MPH-
the lighter vehicle always accelerated quicker, and was more energy to mass efficient.

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