False windshield for boxy car?

[tjts1]

I would start with a 262C body and its far more laid back windshield and lower roof line, add newer B230/LH3.1 engine, M47 gear box, 3.31 rear end, flat hood with covered grill, skinny bumpers (weight), belly pan, newer driver's side mirror, no passenger side mirrod and voila. You would even have a good excuse to cover up the the rear wheel arches. That combo will be worth 35mph on the highway easy.
http://www.isaab.net/upload/VOLVO%20262C%201979..jpg
But thats just me
Sorry for taking it OT.

[brucepick]

Originally Posted by tjts1

I would start with a 262C body and its far more laid back windshield and lower roof line, add newer B230/LH3.1 engine, M47 gear box, 3.31 rear end, ... That combo will be worth 35mph on the highway easy...
But thats just me
Sorry for taking it OT.

Here's the pic from your link. I like the idea but I'm more into mods that I can do for the cost of lunch money. I think you're right about the easy 35 mpg highway with that plan.


Not that many were made of that model - and even fewer have survived.

[diesel_john]

agree with Frank the low pressure areas are the hardest to control
first pic
shallower windshield just doesn't require as big of a hump on top to stay laminar

if by changing the windshield angle if we can help fix what's on back more easily or more economically then it's worth it.

my question always seems to boil down the same, should we steer the majority of the air from the front over the top or around the sides?
one or the other is much easier than both.

second pic concept of a thin wall built on top edge the length of the car would direct and hold air over the top of the car. a sort of tail gate up variation, air would fill up the space in front of the windshield and flow over the top at a much flatter angle, in theory, of course.
intuitively it looks like no way would it reduce drag, which may mean that no one has ever tried it.

[aerohead]

I'd be afraid of lift.You might want to GOOGLE GTP cars.Those windshields that they run channel air around the cabin,much like in an airplane,and generate the least possible drag.They're $3,000 and that sucks,however they are what the air prefers.I looked at Dodge Viper and FORD GT windshields today.Not as great as the pure convex GTP glass,but each was under $1,000.

[boxchain]

I think the first pic is more doable because you aren't messing with your fwd visibility. Going up is a brilliant idea since you aren't increasing your road footprint, just A, but in return you get a smoother airflow around the whole body. It's worth a 5% increase in A if you lose more than .05 Cd (and I can prove it mathematically )

I thnk you would want more of a dome shape on top, like a turtle shell. Less material (weight) and A.

I looked at diesel Rabbits on ebay and good ones are going for over $3K! /OT

I worked with a guy that has a vacuum table that could form something like that, but I have the feeling it would be many months of lunches.

[diesel_john]

the 'air fence' on the second pic(#25) is brought on by my subconscious trying to avoid contour forming a clear plastic windshield.
maybe brucepics flat panels with short 'air fences' out of clear plastic to keep the air from spilling off the edges would work, at least we wouldn't have to form plastic. maybe would look more like that stealth airplane. i'll try to draw what i mean. it turned out like the tornado hunter. but there aren't any curves.