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Old 02-04-2010, 10:48 PM   #9 (permalink)
RobertSmalls
Left Lane Ecodriver
 
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Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Buffalo, NY, USA
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Prius C - '12 Toyota Prius C
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Quote:
Originally Posted by orange4boy View Post
You can also chop the end 1/3 off to keep it shorter and still retain roughly 90% of the benefit.
That's what Honda said too, and we ended up with a Cd of 0.25. I'm inclined to go all the way, since I think it will be departure angle and visibility, not overall length, that make the tail cumbersome to drive daily.

The rear view mirror looks entirely through the upper hatch glass. The lower hatch glass is very helpful while reversing, but not useful on the highway. I'd be okay with blocking the view through the lower hatch glass, but a rear view camera would become almost required, adding to the cost of the project.



I do see the widening gap between the hatch and the streamline. But isn't that normal, as the falling pressure after the apex causes streamlines to move farther apart? I can't really picture disorderly, reversed flow in the few cm between the illustrated streamline and the glass.

And, this picture has me wondering where the stagnation point is on a stock car, and on one with a grille block. Do I want to send air over the car where there's more room for air, or under the car to fill the vacuum under the tail?
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