Quote:
Originally Posted by aerohead
*The 'lowered' ground clearance is a component of the low drag.It affects frontal area,reconfigures the entire belly as a diffuser, alters all the pressure/velocity distributions,cooling system airflow,forward vision/rearward vision,dials in wheel fairing performance,and effective fineness ratio.
*The 'cruise' body inclination of lowest drag would have to be optimized in a wind tunnel or corporate level CFD environment.You couldn't just arbitrarily lower the nose and hope for good results.The body shape is designed only for this particular 'raked' condition.
*You'd lose your SAE Approach/Ramp/Break-over clearances at the nose,tail,and in between the wheels without the active suspension and be tearing off parts of the car every time you drove.
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It's a real issue for us modders.You might study air suspensions that are around and see if anything would lend itself to the Escort suspension.
Tesla and Mercedes-Benz are using active suspension just to get to Cd 0.24-0.22 in a street-able road car.  |
I have seen the effects of lowering on Cd with the Bonnevile Fusion. IIRC, the drag coefficient dropped 0.08, which is huge. That same thread was the one with the decreasing finesse ration of the Porsche.
It appears that an air suspension will cost anywhere from $1000-$2000
ZX2 Air Suspension Kits to customize your Ford
I understand what you mean about trying to imitate the Probe IV rake. It seemed to me that if I could do the math and science with suspension and geometry, sans wind tunnel, that I may be able to get close to optimal.
The last thing I want to do is to tear off any mods! Especially front and rear tire boattails!
I'm just not understanding fully, aerohead sir. If basjoos can achieve a Cd of 0.17 with all his work, what is stopping me from getting my Cd down two lousy hundredths more on a tight budget that desires a moderate ROI, like him?