Quote:
|
So I was thinking, there are aero spoke bicycle wheels, why not cars? Would the improvements be too small?
|
Yes.
In the case of the bicycle you have a minimal rim and tire, with the spokes open to the airstream on both sides. Would aero spokes would the flat carbon fiber spokes? They cut though the air better than a round wire spoke.
In the case of the car, you have a massive rim and tire with a relatively small opening in the middle. Which is typically full of brakes. So you can see daylight though some small slots? ChazInMT's point holds, so divide by two. The path is intermittently shuttered by the moving spokes, so deduct some additional points. The wheelwell is full of turbulence, so the inside/outside pressure differential probably changes direction at random.
When you have to pump the brakes, it's because the parts expand from the heat, requiring more fluid than the master cylinder contains. The correct way to cool brakes is to ventilate the rotors and cross-drill the rotors and drums.