Quote:
Originally Posted by kach22i
Nice couple of charts.
Do you have anything on the plan view?
As in Saab 99 or Lancia Stratos type curved windshields?
Closest related commentary I can recall is the air-cooled VW Microbus critic.
The one which argued that the corners had a radius beyond the minimum required.
And that the bow or arc of the front fascia panel where the famous VW emblem is, is curved outward beyond the minimum required.
Apparently this guy liked to keep things as boxy as possible.
|
I've been creating and compiling images for a dedicated thread on plan-taper.
Hucho describes 'saturation',in which once the optimized radius is achieved,no further increase in radius will produce additional drag reduction.
However,if you continue into the chapters on commercial vehicles,he shows drag tables which clearly illustrate that the 'bulbous',or 'oval' forebody has the lowest drag in crosswinds,which is generally 'where' we all drive statistically.
R.G.S.White of MIRA conducted wind tunnel studies for his 1968 low drag recipe car,and his quanta support the low drag aspects of the 'bulbous' nose,which dates to 1911.
Here is Moller's research from 1951
Here is White's lowest drag iteration
which dates to Jaray's patents of 1923
Jaray's shape is at top,the 1911 form is 3rd from top
Jaray's streamliner in plan-view
