boat tail and crosswinds?

[katiep]

I was reading about boat tails because I want to add one to my car eventually (see "maximum-angle-boat-tail-8927" thread). The conversation in the "maximum angle" thread got a little bit into crosswinds with aero mods. One person mentioned that the more aerodynamic cars tended to "shrug off" cross winds better than their more "dirty" jeep. But honestly, I hadn't thought about any of that yet!

I would imagine that boat tails like MetroMPG's car (I believe it was a civic, right?) and AndrewJ's civic and others I've seen are fine and don't need to worry about cross winds. They're quite round, so I'd imagine it'd help!

What are y'alls' thoughts on the matter?

[Joenavy85]

Ive noticed (from personal experience) the cars that allow less air under them tend to handle crosswinds better. I put a small "test" air dam on my Jeep and I noticed a difference in how it handled crosswinds. One of my friends put a front belly pan on his Mazda 6 and put several vortex generators near the front of it and noticed a difference in how it handled crosswinds. As far as boat-tails go, look at 3-Wheelers Insight.

Honda Insight Tail Extension Project

as well as basjoos' aerocivic.

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by katiep

I was reading about boat tails because I want to add one to my car eventually (see "maximum-angle-boat-tail-8927" thread). The conversation in the "maximum angle" thread got a little bit into crosswinds with aero mods. One person mentioned that the more aerodynamic cars tended to "shrug off" cross winds better than their more "dirty" jeep. But honestly, I hadn't thought about any of that yet!

I would imagine that boat tails like MetroMPG's car (I believe it was a civic, right?) and AndrewJ's civic and others I've seen are fine and don't need to worry about cross winds. They're quite round, so I'd imagine it'd help!

What are y'alls' thoughts on the matter?

Directional stability has been less an issue since the late 1970s,after the work of Professor Alberto Morelli,working with Pininfarina in Italy.
He found that low,rounded front fenders,along with a higher(reflexed) tail could eliminate instability suffered for decades with low drag cars.
If problems arise,a tailfin can be used to move the center of pressure behind the center of gravity.

[Peter7307]

In addition to the ascending camber line mentioned above the extra side area given by the extension moves the CoP rearward relative to the (virtually negligible) move in the same direction of the CoG which assists in the "weathervane" effect.

This will help overcome the effect of side gusts on the vehicle.

Peter.

[3-Wheeler]

Hi,

Regarding how a tail extension handles some pretty severe side-winds, please check out...

Honda Insight Tail Extension Project

Jim.