Quote:
Originally Posted by Hubert Farnsworth
Rolling resistance is not the least significant, at least not at lower speeds, one really needs to do the calculations, but below a certain speed the road load force due to the vehicle mass and rolling resistance plays a larger role than the aerodynamic drag. After this point then the contribution remains fairly consistant where as the aerodynamic drag increases as a squared function of the velocity of the vehicle.
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I did a bunch of calcs, and rolling resistance is ALWAYS the least significant of the three items I listed. At low speeds we assume city traffic with start/stop, and in that case the energy to accelerate the car is by far the biggest contributor.
At high speed (over 40 mph) aero is the biggest issue.
If you have a heavy car at low speed, then acceleration of the car is the biggest issue. If you have a light car at low speed, then acceleration of the car is still the biggest issue.
Your thoughts?
What con