has any one seen the commercials for the new focus? (active grille shutters)

[fastivab6tg25mr]

this is amazing!!! active grill shutters!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxoFd7EPGfw

[BHarvey]

Pretty darn cool, and about time!

[SlideWRX]

I think the Eco Cruze model does this as well.

[ChazInMT]

Yeah, it was funny, (ha), I was looking at the Cruze in the dealership and noticed the large upper grill opening. I said to the sales guy, "That would boost the MPG if you blocked that off for sure." He just looked at me like "Wha?"

Why didn't he say, "By golly your right, and if you want an automatic version of a grill block, we offer it in our Eco model."

I suspect it's because he hasn't done his homework. der.

Love this new Focus BTW. Too bad it's going to be very pricey, I don't think it will sell nearly as well as it could with the Elantra, Cruze & Altima offerings.

[cfg83]

Hello -

Yeah, the Cruze Eco will also do this. I think BMW was the first *recent* production vehicle to do this in their EfficientDynamics line. I also think this was is EU-only feature :

What did we learn from the Chief Engineer? - Page 7 - PriusChat Forums

It's standard equipment on all new BMWs excluding the Z4 roadster and the 'M' series cars, and 'M Sport' models of the regular cars. See BMW's EfficientDynamics microsite, and the Standard Equipment section. They call it 'Active Aerodynamics'.

It's not impossible and it's certainly not ridiculously expensive.

BMW are actually trying, a bit, although within the bounds of conventional spark petrol engines and diesel engines. Anything BMW calls a hybrid is just a mild hybrid with auto start/stop. (Now standard on 1 and 3 series, which also have electric power steering.)

What's cool for us is that we are getting nice MPG competition percs.

Ha ha, what's old is new again :

What did we learn from the Chief Engineer? - Page 7 - PriusChat Forums

There was a period in the late nineteen twenties when many cars had thermostatically (or manually) controlled louvres in front of their radiators. Cadillacs ca. 1930 had these. Something like that would make a great after-market accessory for the Prius.

CarloSW2

[LeanBurn]

They are also suggesting (maybe marketing slant) that shutters behind the grill opening actually make the car more aero. From what I have read here, the air would come in and get trapped in the recesses creating an air pocket before working its way out. Turbulence...still more effective than no block, but not as optimal as a flush block allowing all the air to slip over the block like any other piece of car body. Are they suggesting that the air pocket remains stagnant and therefor fills the enclosure not allowing any more air to get caught up therefor creating a smooth surface like a block would provide? Or could the block more for heating reasons, which we also know makes the engine more efficient but allows sufficient cooling when slats are open.

The flush block doesn't look as aesthetically pleasing as the behind the grill block does, maybe that is their angle.....hmmmmmm

[ChazInMT]

From my understanding and I think others will back me on this, the air "Piles Up" in the area in front of the grill and ends up going around it, in this case, it will head up over the hood. A small amount of turbulence may be created, but it isn't that significant. If the air moves through the radiator & engine compartment, it creates a fair amount of drag.

So to look at it in basic terms, you have a roughly 1.5 sq. foot area on the front of the car, and lets say it is blocked off smooth for our Zero starting point.
Smooth - 0 Drag
Open - .03 Cd Hit
Blocked from Behind - .002 Cd hit

So the blocking of air in the front of a car is very effective, even if done in a way that looks "rough". It is still 90-95% as effective as letting it find its way through the engine compartment. Roughly speaking. And as always, there's a chance I could be really wrong.

[lowglider]

It`s funny how they try to market it as something new when this can be seen on 20 year old BMWs.

But I do praise the .27 drag coefficient of the new focus, it must be a fuel sipper, especially the diesels.

[cfg83]

lowglider -

Originally Posted by lowglider

It`s funny how they try to market it as something new when this can be seen on 20 year old BMWs.

But I do praise the .27 drag coefficient of the new focus, it must be a fuel sipper, especially the diesels.

That's cool to know! What models had it in 1991?

CarloSW2

[lowglider]

Don`t know all of which, I know the BMW 5 series TDS had it. It had plastic hatches behind the grill that opened with an electric motor once the engine got hot.
It`s always interesting to find out ingenius engineering achievements from the past, even when they are small.

Since we`re speaking about the Focus... what Ford did with the first model of Focus was that they brought sheer driving pleasure & comfort to the massess in one package without having to pay extra for it, this was due to the suspension multi-link setup.

Those cars had unbelievable handling compared to the competition and the ride still remained very comfortable. It doesn`t sound like much if you do not care about cornering at three digit speeds, but it adds a lot to the active safety of a car and thus saves lifes.

I`ve read that they`ve added intelligently distributed braking to this new Focus, again bringing an upper segment car feature to a lower price tag. Hooray