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Also, I see no evidence of rollers under the wheels. I take it then that the
wheels are not turning. Wouldn't that further minimize a widespread
applicability of the pictured air flow?
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It may be a conveyer type rolling surface. The wheels would look stationary at a the shutter speed to capture the smoke detail.
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Just as it gets to the bumper, it veers sharply to the right, directly behind
the front tire air deflector -- the black inverted eyebrow shape. ( I take it
that the Coanda effect is at work here once the air stream contacts the back
of the deflector.0
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The deflector looks like it is parallel to the airstream. If the smoke trail was further to the right it would probably flow in front of the deflector.
This picture is so helpful in visualizing under car airflow. My point is that there is only so much space between the wheels for all that air to go once it's under the overhang so it wants to go sideways into the wheels and ends up going through the wheels and wells. It's pressurized at that point and moving more slowly as well so once it goes between the wheels it has to try to accellerate to fill the low pressure areas behind the car. All that slowing down and speeding up wastes energy. If it was directed over and around the path is smooth and easy in comparison.
I also got to thinking of a car as if it were an air plow. A snow plow would never be designed to leave a compressed swath of snow under the bumper and between the wheels to drive over. It would drag on the undercarriage and slow it down and the wheels would ride up on it adding more drag. A snow plow gets all of the snow out of the way right now, right up front. Not an exact example but you get the idea.
An optimal air dam would leave just the right volume of air to go under the car. Enough to calmly go between the wheels. The wheel skirts would then have the job of smoothing the air as it passed over them around the sides. It seem like to me now that the air dam is doing the heavy lifting and the wheel skirts are cleaning up after. An active air dam would be the best so it could be lifted when needed.
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