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Old 12-27-2011, 01:19 PM   #4 (permalink)
COcyclist
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Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: NW Colo
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TDi - '04 VW Golf
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ChazInMT View Post
Keep in mind that if Chevy improved the rear to optimize it, it would have been 30 points or something. Most cars built today are falling in line with the "Fix the Rear" theory, so it is hard to deny. It's OK to question, but I wouldn't doubt it for long.

I saw a Chevy Sonic live in the wild for the first time the other day, very tapered both top & sides, very crisp trailing edges, just as we discuss in here.
My wife's Audi A3 also has plan taper and a sloping roofline but the front end is like half a sphere. I think Chevy did optimize the Malibu within length, visibility and styling constraints. I want to boattail my hatchback but I have some of those same concerns. Are we ignoring modding the front of our vehicles just because "the biggest gains are at the back"?
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Quote:
Originally Posted by freebeard View Post
The power needed to push an object through a fluid increases as the cube of the velocity. Mechanical friction increases as the square, so increasing speed requires progressively more power.

Last edited by COcyclist; 12-27-2011 at 03:10 PM..
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