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Old 01-27-2010, 05:46 PM   #41 (permalink)
aerohead
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it depends

Quote:
Originally Posted by winkosmosis View Post
Wait a minute... So lowering the tailgate does reduce drag, presumably by creating a lengthened surface for flow to reattach to.
After Texas Tech published and reported on there R&D,some big guns were interviewed by Sport Truck Magazine for their big Aero issue.
Some trucks were reported to deviate from the "norm".
One carmaker rep indicated that swinging the tailgate from the TOP actually reduced drag for some pickups.
Up or down can be within 1% and easily lost within the signal-to-noise ratio of some testing.
We probably ought to stick with case-specific investigations of single vehicles.

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