# How to Improve the Cruze's Aerodynamics ?



## Labrat0116 (Sep 7, 2012)

Radiator inlet configurations

Where is the Cruze's inlet air to the radiator exhausted ? Under the vehicle ?

Perhaps this can be adapted ?


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## 2013Cruze (Aug 4, 2012)

Rain gutter?


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## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

I believe the engine bay heat is exhausted a small amount through an opening at the top of the hood, and underneath the car as well. 

Changing that may require quite a bit of work. 

I had put a lot of thought into how we can improve the fuel efficiency of the Cruze, but I was unable to come up with anything that would make a worthwhile difference over what Chevy already did. Here are a few things they did with the Eco:

Front grill shutters that close at higher speeds when engine temps are stable to reduce drag
Smaller front grill opening to reduce drag
Raised front license plate location to force more air into the shutters. 
Air dams in front of front tires 
Under-body aerodynamic panels
Deeper front air dam
Lip spoiler to help separate the trailing wake
Aerodynamic lip on the driver's side windshield wiper
Multi-spoke forged alloy wheels to reduce rolling turbulence, unsprung weight, and static inertia
10mm lowered ride height to reduce under-body flow and wheel drag
Low rolling resistance 17" tires


Picture of the underside showing the dam in front of the front tires, and under-body panels:









Diagram showing the grill shutters:









Pictures showing a wind tunnel with the Cruze Eco

















Picture of lip spoiler used to separate trailing wake, reducing rear "suction" drag:

















Picture of forged & polished alloy Eco wheels designed for reduced turbulence and weight:









Chevy Cruze Eco: 58 MPG, No Hybrid Magic | ConceivablyTech


> Extremely careful cruising on the Interstate at exactly 55 MPH resulted in a stunning 57.9 MPG.


There's not a whole lot here to improve on that they didn't already think of and implement with many hours of wind tunnel testing.


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## tecollins1 (Nov 6, 2011)

Here's a good vid in the wind tunnel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HyqZkLM_weI&feature=youtube_gdata_player


Sent from iPhone 4


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## Labrat0116 (Sep 7, 2012)

XtremeRevolution said:


> I believe the engine bay heat is exhausted a small amount through an opening at the top of the hood, and underneath the car as well.
> 
> Changing that may require quite a bit of work.
> 
> ...


Wow! Great info XR ! You're a human Wiki on ECO Cruzes! 

If I ended up buying one after all, I'll have my salesman split his commission check with you! LOL!


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

About the only thing I'd think of would be blocking off the upper grille to completely close off the engine bay at times. This would be really handy in the winter for heat retention and overall better aerodynamics on the highway. When it's 30*F out, the radiator doesn't need a whole lot of air to be effective. Same thing with highway travel. An engine that needs to put out 15-20 horsepower to keep the car moving at 65 mph doesn't have the cooling needs it does when producing peak power.

Too bad it's nigh well impossible to get access to the upper grille from the engine bay.


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