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Old 08-31-2012, 10:01 AM   #5 (permalink)
Beau
EcoModding Apprentice
 
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: Anaheim, CA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NeilBlanchard View Post
Lowering a car reduces the frontal area by a tiny amount. If your tires are 7" wide, then lowering it an inch reduces the frontal area by a whopping 14 square inches, or less than a 1/10th of a square foot (0.0972 sq ft to be precise).

A typical car has a frontal area of say 22 sq ft and has a Cd of about 0.33. That means the CdA is 7.26 sq ft. If you reduce the Cd to 0.32, then you reduce the CdA to 7.04 sq ft -- which is more than 2X the reduction you would get by lowering the car 1".

You can probably easily achieve a Cd of 0.30 or better by doing a couple of the simpler ecomods; like grill blocks, smooth wheel covers, rear wheel skirts -- let alone Kamm backs, belly pans, and boattails.
This a very nicely written summary. Very respectful; I appreciate that.
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