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Old 04-05-2008, 09:51 PM   #11 (permalink)
MetroMPG
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Join Date: Nov 2007
Location: 1000 Islands, Ontario, Canada
Posts: 22,530

Blackfly - '98 Geo Metro
Team Metro
Last 3: 70.09 mpg (US)

MPGiata - '90 Mazda Miata
90 day: 54.46 mpg (US)

Even Fancier Metro - '14 Mitsubishi Mirage top spec
90 day: 70.75 mpg (US)

Appliance car Mirage - '14 Mitsubishi Mirage ES (base)
90 day: 62.14 mpg (US)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by aerohead View Post
Should you have had Hucho's book,you would have found that if the airdam projects below the elevation of the lowest suspension member,drag will begin to grow as a percentage of the percentage increase in frontal area.
Except I keep seeing examples where that rule doesn't appear to hold. The Car and Driver Pinto, for example. Even the new Tahoe hybrid's air dam appears to my eye to be much lower than any of the truck's dangly underbits:



Of course it's hard to tell from a photo, but I have also seen this on GM's full size panel vans. Maybe it's also a function of the relative "cleanliness" of the underside, apart from the height of the lowest parts.

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