Talk about a hybrid! Darin Cosgrove increased the fuel efficiency of his car by 15.1% by adding a homemade boat tail made from cardboard, aluminum and duct tape to the vehicle. And you thought biking to work one day a week was ambitious enough.
This isn’t the first modification that Cosgrove has made to the ’98 Pontiac Firefly (the Canadian version of the Geo Metro). As he is the founder of the Web site EcoModder.com – a site that serves as an automotive community where performance is judged by fuel economy rather than power and speed. ‘EcoModders,’ as they are called, employ a combination of vehicle modifications, driving techniques, and common sense to squeeze every penny out of the pumps. Readers become members out of a love for improving the environment or just their savings account – and perhaps a little of both.
This addition extended the car’s back end by 4.5 feet. For you smarties out there, we can break it down by saying that all of the modifications have cut the car’s drag coefficient from 0.34 to 0.23. Yeah, what he said.
To check out more images and a video of the Boat/Car in action, visit TreeHugger.
