Quote:
Originally Posted by MTXA
I'm considering just making an air dam and side skirts out of heavy duty landscaping edging and drilling the rear bumper cover with large holes to vent it. My XA spent its' first seven years in downtown Chicago where they park by feel, so the bumper covers are already pretty dinged up. Right now, I'm mainly seeing what others have done so I can pilfer their good ideas. I've been looking for a decent book on automotive aerodynamics but so far it is pretty slim pickins.
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Go with the air dam and side skirts. The rear bumper actually holds in a high-pressure bubble of air that provides a "phantom" belly pan against the surrounding low-pressure air moving past the car. It's much like the benefits of keeping the tailgate up on a pickup truck.
Drilling out the bumper invites all that low-pressure air to go swirl around the bumper area and creates extra drag. If you're worried about that area, design a partial belly pan that starts at the rear axle and goes back from there (level to the ground for a hatch/wagon profile).
This is the ecomodder's aerodynamics Bible.
Aerodynamics of Road Vehicles - SAE BOOKSTORE Whenever someone mentions "Hucho", they're referencing this book.