Quote:
Originally Posted by JQmile
All of that is all kinds of awesome. I had a Chevette diesel that would get in the mid 50mpg range at 55mph. I always wondered what it would do if it was aero. Heard they were one of the least aerodynamic cars ever made. Also big props for driving real speeds, building something that looks awesome, and doing so with materials that last!
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Dr.Gino Sovran (friend of Wolf Heinrich Hucho) of GM Research Labs published an SAE paper in 1986 about streamlining and EPA mileage ratings.
The baseline example for his work was a 1981 Chevette,gasoline,Cd 0.475,and 19.8 sq-ft frontal area,with EPA 41 MPH HWY.
I extrapolated his curves out to the 'Template',@ Cd 0.13.
According to SAE testing protocols at the time,the streamlining would add 27 mpg to the HWY rating,for 68 mpg.
I owned an '81 Chevette (gasoline) and I remember 41 mpg at the old double-nickel speed limit.
I was just beginning to fab up cardboard mockups for the car,when an airline stewardess decided she'd run a stop sign and drive 'through' the Chevette.
I never got to 'test' Gino's numbers ( I bought the CRX),but you couldn't find a guy held in higher esteem within the automotive community as Mr.Sovran,and I suspect we could use his prediction tools with high confidence.
You could be the one to actually know!
With the Diesel powertrain you should see some really delicious numbers.
