I just saw a review of the new Prius C hybrid in which it was stated that Toyota put vortex generators on the rear (side) of the car:
Quote:
These little winglets on the side of the tail light are meant to create less drag -- in effect creating little vortexes which let the car cut through the air in a much cleaner way.
These are actually made to make the car more aerodynamic.
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Source:
http://youtu.be/JH5CCN3FwLs (at about the 3:25 mark)
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I can't comment on the credibility of what they reviewers say. It's just 2 guys reviewing a car. I presume they're repeating what a Toyota rep told them in the press briefing.
I tried to find a Toyota press release talking about this... and failed. (Maybe someone with better / more persistent digital ferreting skills can find something.)
It'd be good to have some official word on these things to help us noodle about their purpose/utility.
I figure this is somewhat significant because as far as I know, we haven't yet seen any credible evidence about the ability of VG's to directly affect the trailing wake of a vehicle in a way that's meant to improve efficiency.
(Versus ideas about stability or dust control on the rear glass as other claims that are sometimes made for placing VG's on the trailing edge.).