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Old 08-24-2014, 11:41 AM   #1 (permalink)
stillsearching
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does front/middle matter if rear is to be whaletailed?

Hi people, for any remembering my past chain of posts and projects i've been offline and projects set back almost a year due to... unexpected personal crises. :P



At the moment am wanting to plan out a pickup/SUV option... what i'm curious is that if i'm planning to stick a whaletail on the back anyways of similar shape, does it matter what the middle of the vehicle is? Ie - should I get the same MPG from a single cab pickup, crew cab pickup, and Suburban/Excursion provided they got the same tail treatment? (i'm thinking yes, just curious if anything I missed)

And as far as the front end, since i've seen both blunt and swoopy fronts i'm wondering how much it matters there as well. For instance I might want to use a 1980's chevy pickup because it's easier to modify powertrain/underhood stuff, and although it's got a fairly vertical windshield I read somewhere it was the first pickup designed with computer aided aerodynamic design. (though I cannot find a coefficient of drag anywhere)

Yet the 1990 chevy pickups have the windshield back a bit more I think as well as a smaller frontal area. (i'm guessing the frontal area may have had more to do with the 1-2mpg better highway ratings vs the 1987 pickups but without CoD numbers for either truck I can't be sure) Yet maybe with a full whaletail there wouldn't be much difference?

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