Quote:
Originally Posted by JackMcCornack
jamesqf mused re...
> ...outboard wheel pants, like Aptera?
I've assumed the Aptera needs a wide front track to give it reasonable roll-over resistance and a small cabin to keep frontal area down. There is some ratio of track to cabin width where wheel pants make aerodynamic sense, where even though wheel pants give the car a higher Cd than a single body unit, if they reduce frontal area enough, then the CdA will be lower than a single body. Either the Aptera aerodynamicists determined that the dimensions of the Aptera make wheel pants the lowest drag option, or the stylists at Aptera determined that wheel pants look cool. My experienced guess is that Bicycle Bob is right and the Aptera is inducing more drag with its three bodies (and don't forget the control arms holding those bodies together) than it's saving with lower frontal area.
> Make the radiator inlet driver adjustable to the current heat load as you are driving. On my car I can adjust it from 0 square inches to 50 square inches depending <snip>
Good idea. I'm wondering how big the maximum opening needs to be to cool my 32 hp diesel. Basjoos, do you ever drive with the full 50 inch opening, and if so, how high a horsepower load do you think you're feeding it then? I doubt you're at full throttle much, and brief bursts can be carried by thermal inertia, but do you ever ask for more than 32 hp for extended time?
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The Aptera needs a certain track width. What is the alternative to having indepedent wheels housed in nacelles? Making the whole vehicle wider?
Here is what I think... They do this for a reason
