Worse than a fastback design?

[NeilBlanchard]

From his Facebook account:

[freebeard]

That might make a good three passenger vehicle.

There are rumors/stories about putting two passengers in the back of a Messerscmitt KR-200. It made them really tippy.

Think of the plan taper with a centered rear seat, and the rear ingress/egress problem is cut in half.

[kach22i]

Originally Posted by NeilBlanchard

From his Facebook account:

Nice find.

Earlier I did a Google image search using his user name but didn't find anything useful.

Certainly not what I was expecting.

I agree with Freebeard, (3-seater comment) but suggest one further step. Put the batteries up front for even better weight distribution.

I think I read a while back weight distribution should be in the range 70/30 to 66/34 front/back with the two wheels up front configuration (trike). Or in other words, each wheel bearing a near equal amount of weight.

The design as presented when fully loaded is too tail heavy.

[Xist]

Oh. A canopy.

Do the headlights look like they are different heights?

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by mikesheiman

Ok, so it tapers in too quickly...would it actually be better off as a hatchback e.g. no taper at all? I know even some hatchbacks get about 0.3 CD.

And I think I see what you mean about the sides. As in they push air up, only to curve into an area where it's quickly pulled down a bit, thus causing a vacuum/turbulence area? How much CD would you guess that issue alone costs and what's a good way to fix it (simply keep sloping upward and very gently start curving downward to meet the very side/tail area)?

Yes,the initial inward curvature must be very gentle to protect the boundary layer.
This SMART Car is very good

For lower drag,just add length,while respecting the gentle slope

If you envisioned the car as an upright wing,you'd use the 3.92:1 section (between #4 and #5)

As a 3D flow body you'd opt for the minimum drag half body based on the 2.5:1 teardrop.
The curvatures of these shapes would be your guide as far as slopes go.

[freebeard]

What's with all the Photobucket placeholders?

[NeilBlanchard]

Photobucket now charges, so old links are broken.

[freebeard]

I didn't realize they are old re-posts.

Originally Posted by NeilBlanchard

From his Facebook account:



....

These don't even display placeholders in my web browser, Palemoon with Noscript. I like that part.

[aerohead]

Without either a full set of 5-view scale drawings,or telephoto pictures from a great distance I'm useless to you.
There is a way to estimate the total drag of a structure by analyzing each constituent component,allowing for interference at all intersections which is offered by Hoerner,in his book,Aerodynamic Drag.
We've got to have scale images to work with though.
Each component can be optimized based upon extant,published, empirical test results.
Front,Rear,Top,Side,and Bottom views are mandatory.