Quote:
Originally Posted by Vman455
I was just looking through the list of drag coefficients in the wiki (like ya do...) and noticed something interesting: the 2001-05 Civic has a Cd of .36 while the 2003-05 Civic hybrid has a Cd of just .28! After looking closely at pictures of the hybrid, it seems the only body differences are: 1) an upper grill that looks to be mostly or completely solid 2) a small lip spoiler on the rear 3) a plastic tray under the engine compartment 4) redesigned external mirrors that have a smaller attachment point and allow air to flow between the body and mirror 5) .6" lower. My question is: how is it possible that those (minor) differences are enough to lower the drag coefficient by .08 (more than 20%)? Am I not seeing something significant in the alterations to the hybrid model? Or is the number wrong?
The reason I ask is because, if it's correct, that low of a coefficient seems easy to attain--and it makes me wonder where my car is with what I've done to it so far.... |
I think you have the Cd for the hatch. I think the Cd for the coupe is .32 (but .28 is still a big improvement). The changes you describe sound like they might plausibly make such a .04 improvement, judging from what I have read and estimated for my own car after making somewhat similar changes. I have seen 0.36 as the figure for the coupe, but I think 0.32 is correct. The hatch is messier in terms of Cd.