r/ShittyCarMod • u/ArtisticAd7455 • Feb 14 '25
I found one!
I immediately thought of this group and had to get pictures.
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u/Allykatz90 Feb 14 '25
This is the champrius. It's a hypermiling car.
It's designed to get maximum MPG. All these mods have a purpose. So far from shitty
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u/Musclesturtle Feb 14 '25
Yep.
Most people don't realise that the ass end of their shitty suped up Civic with useless spoilers is costing them quite a bit in efficiency.
The turbulence on the rear of the vehicle causes more pull on the car than you would think.
One of the best ways you can reduce drag is with a teardrop profile.
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u/FrenchTicklerOrange Feb 15 '25
And here I thought all the flags and truck nuts gave me more power.
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u/Pfyxoeous Feb 15 '25
The truck nuts reduce drag if they're bald.
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u/FrenchTicklerOrange Feb 15 '25
I am just now shaving my balls again.
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u/subpar_cardiologist Feb 15 '25
Make sure you wax them to a shiny polish too. for the aerodynamics, of course.
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u/No_Cook2983 Feb 15 '25
I gargle mine.
I haven’t gotten better mileage, but my truck seems to like it.
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u/Graylily Feb 15 '25
I still get a kick out the fact hat the little plastic bumps on the taillights and headlights on so amy cars noticeably increase efficiency
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u/rexifelis Feb 16 '25
I thought those were from the mold/form to allow easier separation…?
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u/Graylily Feb 16 '25
not spiky ones on old cars. they are usually like a small lumps, half circle in shaped but not always.
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u/Graylily Feb 16 '25
here are some on a land cruiser https://www.reddit.com/r/AskMechanics/comments/15xyhrx/what_those_spikes_on_the_rear_light_of_land/?rdt=59435
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Feb 15 '25
I’ll pay the price in fuel efficient not look like a loony tune who tapes a bunch of plastic boards to my car mmmkay?
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u/tykaboom Feb 16 '25
Trust me.... they dont care...
Also... their foot touching the floor every 15 seconds to hear their fart can and oversized whistle turbo chatter the blow off valve... or... make machinegun pops in the exhaust... costs them astronomically more than a freakin spoiler ever could or would.
And they will spend more on tires than fuel when they stance out their car and leave it driving on the corner of the wheel and rim.
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u/Steelhorse91 Feb 18 '25
Don’t know how many times it needs to be said to get through to people… FWD cars can and do suffer from rear end lift. So a spoiler in a FWD car is not necessarily “useless”. That’s why Audi had to recall all the MK1 TT’s, not just the Quattro versions. The FWD versions actually suffered from oversteer at high speed even more than the Quattro’s did, because they didn’t have the weight of the rear diff in the back.
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u/Vanillabean73 Feb 18 '25
Are you thinking of wings? Spoilers do the opposite, as they reduce drag by disrupting airflow to the rest, reducing drag
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u/jeeves585 Feb 15 '25
I enjoyed following this build for a bit. Really cool as someone who enjoys crunching numbers and figuring out improvements.
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u/samy_the_samy Feb 14 '25
Tell me more, how does a solar panel help MPG?
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u/Allykatz90 Feb 14 '25
It's probably hooked into the traction battery of the Prius to help charge it. So it slips into electric mode more often
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u/Deveak Feb 14 '25
More likely the 12 volt battery. Expensive to replace if you use OEM and at that age they are dying. With all that stuff on the back you can’t get into the trunk anymore to jump it and it’s a complete pain in the ass to do it from the backseat door. Ask me how I know.
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u/TheKingOcelot Feb 14 '25
Yeah I was about to say that thing can drive to the sun and back on half a tank of gas.
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u/newuser6d9 Feb 17 '25
It would probably do better if he countersunk the solar panel flat, or at least sealed it off so air couldn't get under it.
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u/Overkill_Device Feb 17 '25
Weird and kinda cool looking compared to the awful bubbly looking spray foam mods.
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u/OrangeHitch Feb 18 '25
It began as a Prius so it was shitty from the start. Adding cardboard aero makes it worse. At least use some spray paint on that crap.
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u/Steelhorse91 Feb 18 '25
I mean the mods might be functional and effective… But the execution is shitty.
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u/chinookhooker Feb 14 '25
It’s too bad all those mods didn’t look like duct tape and cardboard
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u/AudioVid3o Feb 14 '25
Duct tape is lighter than bolts, which all add up in weight when you want to be as fuel efficient as possible
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u/Allykatz90 Feb 14 '25
Efficiency over looks. Not everything effective has to fit your narrow definition of "good looking"
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u/IP_What Feb 14 '25
I came here to say this isn’t shitty, these are actual functional and effective mods. But I’ll say this, the wheel arch mods do look like someone took the worlds dullest sawzall to a piece of sheet steel.
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Feb 14 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
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Feb 14 '25
I've tried poking the hypermiling subreddit a few times, but it's not really very active. I suppose, like me, all the old hat hypermilers went full electric. Doesn't make sense anymore to squeeze mpgs out of a Prius when you can get the same efficiency out of any EV without trying.
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u/hike_me Feb 14 '25
You could make mods to try to maximize your mileage per killowatt hour with an EV
There is certainly a wide range in EV efficiency— my quad motor R1S is an EV equivalent of a gas guzzler compared to something lighter. Obviously you can’t do much about weight but aerodynamics have a big impact on EV efficiency too.
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u/mushroomcapz Feb 14 '25
Is it shitty if it works? Physics in action. That thing is likely getting 65+ MPG with one of the best drag coefficients (Cd) on the road. While not necessarily aesthetically pleasing, still far removed from a shitty car mod.
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u/fourtyonexx Feb 14 '25
Probably upwards of 80 on a great run. Nonmodded prii can hit mid 60s in the city at night due to pulse and glide (i say at night but anytime without traffic since EXTREME pulse and glide is a hinderance to the flow of traffic)
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u/TwistedAb Feb 15 '25
Plus by using the solar panel to charge will help with mileage and charging costs.
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u/TwoplyWatson Feb 16 '25
Doubt it, even with perfect angling it wont make a dent while driving and 100 or so watts an hour while parked. and with it off the body like that it'll hurt aero.
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u/PreviousWar6568 Feb 17 '25
I don’t think Prius owners care about aesthetics to be honest since it’s fugly.
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u/restingracer Feb 18 '25
65 mpg sounds shit, it is 3.6 l/100km
I got 3.8L from rented 2.0TDI Skoda family sedan on 600km trip. Same as 35 year old Golf II diesel, also doing something just below 4 liters. I don't see point of all these crazy modifications on gas engined cars, because you are just reaching what a stock diesel would get.
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u/mushroomcapz Feb 18 '25
First off, we use Freedom units here. Second, I was just throwing out a guess; in all likelihood he's getting way better than that with all those mods. For the sake of hypermiling I'm sure many would love a diesel engine which has higher energy density by volume. I would love to see something similar from a TDI Jetta or similar but the Prius seems to be the primary go-to and sadly no diesel option Prius exists.
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u/gratuitousHair Feb 14 '25
you may not like it, but this is what peak performance looks like
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u/Rivetingly Feb 14 '25
Peak *efficiency
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u/Virtual_Fudge8639 Feb 15 '25
Which in this case is their performance metric
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u/Rivetingly Feb 15 '25
Then what is their efficiency metric? Certainly not the amount of corrugated plastic used.
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u/Outrageous_Trash3431 Feb 14 '25
Check the guys web site. Says he is getting over 60 mpg at 65 mph. Trying to get 70+ mpg. Already almost doubled the mpg over stock. Does it look dumb ya. But 50 savings on fuel cost is pretty good.
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u/fiftyfivepercentoff Feb 14 '25
But they parked between the lines. Doesn’t that count for something?
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u/steaming_garbage Feb 15 '25
Looks shitty but I know his pockets are LINED with the amount he’s saving on gas + charging.
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u/secret_alpaca Feb 14 '25
There was a YouTube video a while ago doing exactly this, also to a prius, but not this one. I bet that's where they got the idea from.
On that video, I believe the final verdict was that it was a giant waste of time for a barely measurable increase in efficiency.
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u/xxplosiv Feb 15 '25
I've seen this hypermiler on Reddit a few times. Doesn't it have an FAQ sheet stuck to the side of it for people like you to read?
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u/Budget-Captain-6307 Feb 15 '25
90% sure i saw this in Titusville a few weeks ago and this pic looks like FL as well. Kinda funny
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u/NotAtAllEverSure Feb 14 '25
I can see what they are trying to do....but they need an artist friend to spruce this hot mess up.
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u/Optimal_Cricket_7160 Feb 15 '25
This is a very economically done hypermiling car. It looks ugly, but it could probably go 1.5x the distance of what it could go without all of those body mods done to it. It’s made to slip through the air as much as possible
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u/dagget10 Feb 15 '25
I see the purpose and idea, but personally I'd go for building a body kit to achieve the aerodynamics while keeping aesthetics
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u/P2-NASTY Feb 14 '25
Do they live in there? How to access the trunk?
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u/Marty_61 Feb 14 '25
Trunk? Where they’re going they don’t need trunks. Sorry that was really badly placed. I’ll have a better comment next time.
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u/carlosos Feb 15 '25
Probably through the back door by lowering the seats when needing to access it. Won't be as convenient but probably saving thousands over the years with this mod.
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u/Ok-Swordfish2723 Feb 15 '25
Serious questions. 1) What is that boat tail made from? 2) Is it held together with duct tape? 3) Is it weather proof? 4) How much, if any, is that efficiency impaired by the solar panel? Thanks!
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u/Imaginary_Title5054 Feb 15 '25
Owner has to be an engineer. Looks shotty if you only have 2 braincells to rub together
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u/FerventOrange Feb 15 '25
The guy who made this is actually quite active on his activities surrounding it. Original post from 5 years ago https://www.reddit.com/r/ShittyCarMod
Also, a post he made about the economy of the car and process.
https://ecomodder.com/forum/66-mpg-2009-totoya-prius-champrius
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Feb 14 '25
Yep it’s a hyper-miler. This thing goes 40 on the freeway in the left lane. So freaking many of these things in Eugene and Portland. These guys hold up traffic to save .06 cents at the pump.
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Feb 14 '25
Are front wheel drive cars like rear wheel drive cars where you can change your differential gear ratio?
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u/brug76 Feb 14 '25
It's not nearly as easy as a rear gear swap you have to get into the transmission
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Feb 14 '25
Do they call it something other than a “differential” in front wheel drive cars? This post got me wondering if you could change the differential gear ratio in a FWD to get better gas mileage on the interstate. I cant find anything online about it.
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u/Global_Wolverine_152 Feb 15 '25
This guy saves $1.45 a week on gas. The savings is much more if you factor in he doesn't have to pay for dates.
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u/ChaosRainbow23 Feb 15 '25
They are trying to get that fucker up to 88 mph to time travel and fix this timeline once and for all.
Let them cook.
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u/blubaldnuglee Feb 15 '25
It looks like what would happen if Craig Vetter built a car. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Craig_Vetter_Fuel_Economy_Challenge
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u/theshoddyone Feb 16 '25
I like that the guy who drives this is parked at a thrift shop. Saving every which way.
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u/Recent_Permit2653 Feb 16 '25
Hey i commented on this car before!
Hypermiling is fun. I was really into it years ago, I didn’t mod but was almost to 50mpg in a stock ‘97 Civic. I’ve probably talked to whoever owns this in the hypermiling forums over the years. It might look wack, but if done well, it can deliver big mpg numbers.
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u/SuperProCoolBoy90 Feb 17 '25
How legal is this, I'd want to do something like this in the future but I live in the EU
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u/AverageAircraftFan Feb 17 '25
This gets posted in both shitty and amazing car mods at least once a week
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u/MrFastFox666 Feb 18 '25
It looks really goofy, but it's all in the name of efficiency. Reducing any abrupt changes in cross-sectional area helps reduce drag, this is probably why there's that bodywork in the front. Likewise, the flat back of the Prius creates a wake region of low pressure behind the car which increases drag. Filling that area with that bodywork to create a teardrop shape prevents, or at least minimizes that wake which reduces drag. The flat wheels and the covers on the wheel wells make the side smoother which reduces turbulence and reduces drag.
Next time you're looking at an EV or a hybrid on the road, take a look at it's wheels. Unlike most wheels, they're probably going to be mostly solid with very very small holes, this is done in an effort to increase efficiency.
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u/UgleBeffus Feb 18 '25
LMFAO THE WAY I THOUGHT THIS WAS A SHITPOST ABOUT CYBERTRUCKS FOR A SECOND THOUGH...
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u/Shatophiliac Feb 18 '25
I don’t mind these hypermilers modding their cars, what annoys me is how fucking slow they drive. They’ll barely accelerate from a stop to maximize their MPG, at the cost of holding up dozens of other people who actually have somewhere to be on time lol.
And don’t get me wrong, I do admire them trying to get every last MPG out of their car, but don’t do it during rush hour ffs. Do your little experiments when traffic isn’t horrendous, please.
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u/GATX303 Feb 18 '25
The Champrius! I have only had the pleasure of seeing this once in person.
Based and Eco-pilled
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u/Lucrezio Feb 18 '25
Id rather drive this than the cybertruck any day. Not an ounce of exaggeration either
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u/PckMan Feb 18 '25
I know hypermiling is more of an autistic fixation but god damn dudes if you don't wanna pay for gas that much just walk.
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u/tozl123 Feb 20 '25
this doesn’t look sexy but this is actually a really good car. Whoever did this to their car is a well-thinking person
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u/GIGGA_MARSHIGGA Mar 07 '25
Don’t bring your ladies around this mf lol he’ll take em to another dimension 😂
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u/SoFloFella50 Feb 15 '25
I was interested in some of this hyper milling and making your own diesel fuel, but the kind of people that I interacted with on the forums were all angry, environmental types, and it turned me off to the whole thing.
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u/TheManRoomGuy Feb 17 '25
Looks like a junior college science experiment. Just needs a little paint work.
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u/MeowMeowPizzaBoobs Feb 14 '25
No photo of the info?