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Old 06-11-2011, 07:12 PM   #8 (permalink)
California98Civic
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Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Coastal Southern California
Posts: 6,299

Black and Green - '98 Honda Civic DX Coupe
Team Honda
90 day: 66.42 mpg (US)

Black and Red - '00 Nashbar Custom built eBike
90 day: 3671.43 mpg (US)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by aerohead View Post
With respect to the taper,you might increase the tumblehome of the spoiler sides slightly from beginning to end.
You'll see this on say the Honda Fit,as you stand behind the car to one side looking forward.Looking at the A,B,C,and D-pillars,you notice that each falls in towards the center of the Fit a little more than the one in front,the further back you go.
It would put a little twist into the sides,reducing the plan form area of the top of the extending panel while maintaining the curve of the 'base' which is less affected by the downwash off the roof.
I was unfamiliar with the term "tumblehome" though now that I have looked it up online I realize I understood what was meant already. Funny. It's the taper from the beltline of the vehicle to the top, making protrusions in the upper portion not stick out much beyond the maximum width of the car. I understand the point about taper too. So, I'm going to redesign according to these ideas. One priority was not to cut the main long flat section of coroplast until I was fully confident I was honing in on a proper design. I'm at that point. Gotta cut a mildly curved line into the flat lid surface, on each side to carry the tumblehome and the taper to their logical finish. Below is a great set of Honda Fit images that make your points more clearly than most photos people post on the web.
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See my car's mod & maintenance thread and my electric bicycle's thread for ongoing projects. I will rebuild Black and Green over decades as parts die, until it becomes a different car of roughly the same shape and color. My minimum fuel economy goal is 55 mpg while averaging posted speed limits. I generally top 60 mpg. See also my Honda manual transmission specs thread.



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