Quote:
Originally Posted by Otto
I have doubts due to the aerodynamics: Various people on this forum have gone to great lengths with boat tails, belly pans, pizza pan wheels, nose jobs, etc. and got nowhere near 114mpg on the highway at 67 mph. Granted, those folks have heavier cars than Wikispeed, but then once the vehicle is cruising on level ground at highway speed, weight is no longer that big a factor. Aero is. So, when Wikispeed claims 114mpg at 67 mph in a car with open-roof roadster drag, apparently no belly pan, not that great nose or body, etc., I have serious doubts.
I may go by there and offer to buy a gallon of fuel for a road test on I-5 to see exactly how far the car goes. Or doesn't.
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*at 1,100-lbs the EPA test weight would be 1,400-lbs
*A frontal area would be handy
*Rolling resistance data would be handy
*Do the claim 67-mph as their 114 mpg velocity?
*Do we know the road horsepower and mpg of the donor Honda at 67 mph?
If so,we could calculate the BSFC for that engine.
*If we can nail down the frontal area and tire data,knowing the BSFC at 67 mph,we should be able to reverse-engineer the road load necessary to produce 114 mpg,and from that the necessary Cd.
*The Pontiac Solstice has Cd 0.45 and is similar to the convertible Wikispeed.
*EPA 'HWY" mpg is derived at 48.2 mph average with no greater than 60 mph.We absolutely need to know if they're sticking to their 67 mph number.
*The 1991 100 mpg GM Ultralite was rated at 50 mph,close to the EPA 48.2 mph ave. velocity.She was 1,700-lb EPA test weight.