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Old 09-01-2011, 12:44 PM   #89 (permalink)
orbywan
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Otto View Post
Well, if the frontal air cannot get out, it won't go in, so I'm not too worried about that. Still, if you want good exit geometry and flow-through synergy, study tuna or shark gills, or Google pics of the Arnold AR5 sportplane cowling, best in the business.

Before you did all that beautiful belly pan work, the airflow under the car had lots of obstructions and turbulence, so a chunk of it it piled up in front and spilled around the sides rather than hit the wheels at, per Hucho's Calibra picture, a blunt angle. Now that the belly is smooth, you have a net reduction in overall belly drag, but I suspect perhaps an increase in wheel drag, due to more air going past and for lack of wheel fairings. Not to worry, this too shall pass.

Also, brake cooling worries aside, why not try the pizza pans, at least on the open road, if not on mountain roads?
I can't do the pizza pans on the front Otto, they're dually type wheels where the center of the wheel sticks out at the hub. I'm reluctant to do that in the back because of brake overheating but I suppose I could take my infrared thermometer gun, make a run without them in the mountains pulling the boat, check the inside wheel temp, and do it again with the pizza pan and check it again.

Come to think of it, my boat has surge brakes on it that work really well, there's not a lot of extra braking going on even with the boat hooked up, maybe I'll give that a try. Thanks.

I need to get in touch with graydoneengineering and talk to him about his Frontier. He said his belly pan didn't seem to do much good until he blocked off the wheel wells and vented the pan up by the engine. Sounds familiar. I also like what he did with the diff, very creative.

I agree, I think the wheels, especially the duallys', are creating considerable amounts of turbulence. It's going to be a week or two before I can get back on this but I'm going to try all the above. I'll make this work or rip it out and toss it on a bonfire.
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