I suppose now is the time for criticism, before the design solidifies.
Have you made a chalk-and-lawn-furniture mockup of the seating arrangement? It's very unconventional, and I wonder how well it works.
There is too much unutilized width in your vehicle.
You should be able to lower your roofline a few inches by placing batteries below everyone's chair, and below nobody's feet.
Regarding the driver's on-center location: that's great for a race car, and it's good for side impact safety. However, road cars traditionally place the driver at the left side of the car (in LHD countries) so he can put the left wheels exactly where he wants them. A notable exception is driving in the alps. If cliffs are more of a concern than traffic, sitting on the RHS is preferred.
I am not an expert, but it looks like you need a LOT more room between the front bumper and the driver's feet. Check out your Scions. I bet that distance is just under a meter. Since your car will not be run through real or simulated crash tests, and you may have trouble managing zones of different stiffness, better to err on the side of caution and go with a 1m crumple zone.
I'm making several assumptions there about what you're going to do with the vehicle, and how safe it needs to be. A vehicle which is novel and awesome can get away with poor crash safety, as long as it's something you drive slowly, carefully, and seldom. Something daily driven in traffic and/or snow, needs to be safer (says a man whose Insight has been in two fender benders in four months).
If I can get my CFD software running, I'd be happy to run your 3D CAD model through it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by NeilBlanchard
Thanks Bob -- I'm sorry to hear that! Yes 24X the air speed would be a big challenge! I guess that is why the pictures of the Mercedes scale models show them in a fluid tank? :-(
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Can you build a water tank that supplies water at 15mph? Or maybe a 1/12 scale model and a stream of water at 7mph?