View Single Post
Old 01-04-2008, 08:48 PM   #35 (permalink)
basjoos
Master EcoModder
 
basjoos's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: Upstate SC
Posts: 1,088

Aerocivic - '92 Honda Civic CX
Last 3: 70.54 mpg (US)

AerocivicLB - '92 Honda Civic CX
Team Honda
90 day: 55.14 mpg (US)

Camryglide - '20 Toyota Camry hybrid LE
90 day: 62.77 mpg (US)
Thanks: 16
Thanked 676 Times in 302 Posts
In my opinion, an airdam is just a band-aid to use if you have a aerodynamically dirty underside you want to divert air away from. In a max FE application, we're not overly concerned about generating added downforce, which is the other main purpose of an air dam. On my car, I have a totally smooth underside and the only "airdams" on my car are the two air diverters (wheel spoilers) that sit ahead of my front wheels to split the airflow around the wheels. This split airflow is maintained via the double side skirts to the rear wheels and then ideally (future project) should have a small boattail fin behind each rear wheel to reduce its eddy. If you look at the Loremo and the Daihatsu UFEIII, they have airflow splitters in front of each of their front wheels and the UFEIII has a small boattail behind each rear wheel. If you insist on going with an airdam, you can make it a variable height airdam that is deepest in front of each wheel and highest in the section between the wheels. Some airdam-equipped Audis and BMW's go this route.
__________________
aerocivic.com
  Reply With Quote
The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to basjoos For This Useful Post:
j12piprius (03-06-2011), lzyga09 (06-19-2010)