Quote:
Originally Posted by RobertSmalls
A power meter on a car would immediately quantify the benefit of a new grille block geometry, or of front wheel skirts. It would be sensitive enough that you measure the energy consumption of the 10kg of tools you left in the car, and it can help you decide whether to open the window or turn on the fan. Do it. The feedback is way more precise and immediate than that of a ScanGauge.
The biggest reason against it is: you need a lot of strain gauges.
I don't know exactly where the Corolla's motor mounts are, but my Honda has three motor mounts, and all three are six-axis connections, and they all resist driving torque. You should get out a crowbar and see how stiff your mounts are in the relevant directions, and from there decide whether you're comfortable with the assumptions you want to make.
Honestly, the best argument against direct measurement of engine torque is that it's easier to estimate engine torque from engine operating parameters (RPM, MAF, fuel:air ratio, fuel injector pulsewidth, etc). I imagine that an eight-channel DAQ attached to sensors already on your car would be plenty to create beautiful logs and real-time bar graphs of energy consumption, broken down by aero, rolling, and inertial forces.
I'm an inexperienced mechanical engineer. Take my input for what it's worth.
BTW, welcome to the site!
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Thanks!
I'm not sure you need a lot of strain gauges to get a signal that can be calibrated as an alias for propulsion force, that's why I need the opinion of others. The crowbar will come out soon
I doubt it's easier to estimate engine torque from a plethora of "indirect" parameters, than to put a suitable sensor "within the force flow"
I started a new
thread in the proper forum, see you there.