Quote:
Originally Posted by Varn
I would want to run the same wheels on both car and trailer. Depending on the aerodynamics adding two more wheels might add more drag than the trailer solves, particularly if the vehicle has good aero to start with.
He might try using zote foam as a connection of his panels. This was implemented by an artist friend of mine. I have used it on recumbent bicycles and it may work well as a trailing edge of a motor vehicle. It could be attached to the car and overlapped to the trailer. I doubt if an overlap is of much importance when going from larger to smaller.
|
I'm pretty confident that we can overshadow the extra R-R of the tires/wheel-bearings with the Cd reduction.
When I pulled the original 2-wheel trailer to California empty,and back loaded with a 1/4-ton of batteries along with all my other gear,I only took a 2-mpg penalty with the CRX,dropping from 52,to 50 mpg running 1,000 lbs over curb weight.That was without any gap-fillers between car and trailer,no 'underside',and zero wheel fairings.
I don't know yet if I can 'add' mpg,but I think it would be easy to net out at zero loss.
The T-100 should be less sensitive to a weight addition than the CRX and the Prius trailer could be constructed at no more than 200-lbs total weight.
Appreciate the Zote foam info,I'm sure my friend will be looking at all the posts and can value from the data.Thanks!
