Quote:
Originally Posted by freebeard
Have you looked for a drawing of the door bracket disassembled? I predict a C-channel facing downward.
If you had a clear plastic truncated boattail over the mirror, it would only need a window in the inner face to allow you to see into it (and the truncation to see out). A good approximation would be a baloney-cut cone, down to an 'eyebrow'. It could be an extension of your deepen bullet.
Only a driver-side mirror? If you invert the stalk so it slants down instead of up, can you still see into the mirror?
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*I'm going to maintain Toyota's bracket for the short term.Without the mirror,it's a fairly good representation of a camera bud.I want to wind tunnel test this.
*I'm unsure if a clear plastic boat tail behind the mirror wouldn't create 'fun house' optical aberrations trying to see through it.I'm willing to live with some base drag,but I know the forebody of all the mirrors are completely 'wrong.'
I've culled photos from maybe 50 magazines now and have seen some really good looking designs from either supercars,or dedicated full-race cars.No serious racers are using OEM mirrors.
*I'm running mirrors for both sides plus inside blind-spot mirrors.(thanks BamZipPow!) Rubber-neckers are just too stupid in traffic and there's no way to have too much visual information available.
*As to the stalks,the mirrors are manufactured for left or right and can't be used on the opposite side.The ball sockets have limited range of motion even on the 'correct' side.
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An interesting tidbit showed up screening the mags.The drag coefficient for one of the Thrust,rocket-powered LSR cars was given.At subsonic velocity it was Cd 0.33 with the engine off,and Cd 0.30 with the engine on.
If we had a source of waste air pressure in the car,we might be able to actively 'blow' the mirrors (as has already been examined with passive blowing),perhaps cancelling their drag altogether.
But for now,I'll be happy to reduce their frontal area,lower their drag,and move them away from the car to reduce their interference.