Just supposing you found a rather beat looking 2wd mini truck for a bargain basement price. Something with a decent running engine, but a rusted out body. And supposing you were to strip the body off of it and then build a low sleek and very aerodynamic car body for it. I'm thinking something with provisons for two people seated inline down the mid center of the chassis. What sort of fuel milage might one expect to get out of such a creation? If it were me, I'd consider trying to lower the chassis slightly, but do so in such a way that I could run a larger outside diameter tire to effectively change the gearing to get lower engine revs at highway speeds. With a vastly more wind cheating shape and hopefully, a lower weight resulting from using aluminum for the body, I think it could be geared in such a manner and still have lots of power and great fuel economy. Yep, just daydreaming here. But if I ever stumble upon the right truck for next to nothing, I'll probably attempt this someday.
fuel mileage is largely dependant on 2 things..weight ,and aerodynamic drag..lower the weight and drag coefficient and your mileage will go up,as will performance...There was a great article in one of the big hot rod magazines in the 1970s that demonstrated this to great effect.(I've googled it but can't seem to find it) The magazine took a stock Cadillac (Deville,Seville,can't recall which) and ran it down the dragstrip..recorded the times..then removed a few pieces at a time and tested the speeds accordingly...the Caddy in the end with no doors,hood,fenders,windows,bumpers etc.was much faster than a Corvette of the same year...It was a cool article and I am now going to hunt for it on google books (you can read all the back issues of most popular magazines on google books ,cover to cover..Pop. science,Pop. mechanics, hot rod etc.) Great time waster for government lackeys like me As for building a body I say go for it..it never hurts to be creative,and you can only learn from it...sounds cool
i was going to ask a question in this section, but i read this first, seemed like a good place for "what if" type stuff. If i have highjacked, please forgive, ill delete and go somewhere else. What if... When my engine dies in my mini truck, i could rebuild it with more power, or swap out with larger engine, or my ultimate dream... swap out with the 800cc turbo diesel engine that is in the euro version of the smart car.... sigh... So to my questions... Has anyone ever rebuilt the 660 FA6? Is there a kit for doing so? Wonder if you can bore it out biger? Would it be easier to buy another used one to replace? Slap a turbo on it? Slap a super on it? Replace with the 800cc motor thats in the non-japan versions? To tie this up a little more with the current thread, IMHO a more powerfull engine would yeild better fuel econ in this case. Or just a newer one =\
