Quote:
Originally Posted by NeilBlanchard
Once the front of the car has started to move air in all directions.....
I'm a little unclear on your question -- is my answer making sense?
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1. RE: The first part of the partial quote above;
Yes and no, you actually took on another topic which has frustrated many when using the template, the front part of the car and the wild stuff which can happen even before we get to the all important tail end (everything past the zero mark or high point of roof). Good answer, I'll try to save it.
2. RE: The second part of the partial quote above;
Let me try to clear up uncertainty about question,
I am trying to get a feel for how the air moves, and suspect that for the most part,
the air don't give a squat about the scale of the template being used.
It is as you pointed out above Neil, the air is just as subject to the stuff happening up front as it is at the tail. Which in most regards goes counter to the traditional template debate where almost everyone agrees that only the rear part really counts.
3. My Theory; I think there is a point where the mass of air being pushed and moved will just move as a mass, and not trickle and flow over every surface like water would. Where exactly this limit of detail verses mass is set is a mystery to me.
I think I can teardrop each wheel bump and the canopy to good affect, but it will have more actual surface area than a large single simple form resembling the template.
There might be a happy medium or compromise in real life where both approaches can meet at an optimum setting. This is the question, where is that point?
I'll sketch something up, a picture is worth a thousand words and all that.
EDIT:
I screwed up the top sketch, the tail does not go up, just imagine it fits the template in plan and elevation.
Industrial Design - Transportation pictures by kach22i - Photobucket
It's logical to say for instance; if I install rear view mirrors or budding out headlights that I should attempt to teardrop them somehow, right?
Therefore every little item right down to tear dropping the aerial antenna in section should be addressed, right?
A minimal aerodynamic skin over a four wheel go-kart of a car would different than the template, right?
It's the "how and why" that I'm pondering right now.