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Old 06-23-2011, 12:24 AM   #40 (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 Cd View Post
BTW, If you left the back end of the test section ( the raised trunk or 'boot' ) open - just below the flat test section and the actual trunk, you could raise it as high as you wanted and still see behind you ( it would block a small section of the rear glass, much like the rear view from a Prius.
It might even be beneficial to have it open like that, since it would create a small vacuum in that area just at the edge.

EDIT : I see that you already have the edge open. If you went higher with it, I would think it wouldn't obstruct much of the rear view.
Interesting. Thanks. How might the vacuum help? I ask because I have this friend who finds this trunk lid idea amusing. We laugh about it and then I try it again. He has aero design experience. Beside the fact that he is probably correct about my lid (pun intended), he thinks that the trailing edge, with the open back, does more harm than good. He seems to think it adds to the low pressure circulation zone behind the car. What do you think? I begin to think that without a significantly downward angle to the spoiler, he might be correct. Wouldn't a downward spoiler reduce the wake by taking the attached flow I know is coming down the window and sending it into the wake area? Wouldn't that reduce the wake area? Does that make sense?

EDIT: added image of what I mean. Would need to be clear to avoid visibility loss. Probably could be made to avoid trunk loss.
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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.




Last edited by California98Civic; 06-23-2011 at 12:31 AM..
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