[JulianEdgar]

Originally Posted by freebeard

A thread from 2015 documented Morelli's FIAT research car. EcoModder Forum > EcoModding > Aerodynamics > Morelli's 'Fluid Tail'



This had every trick in the book.

Oval terminus
Active aero evacuated wheel wake
Box cavity/separation edge
Perforated [not even sure what this is]

Here's another picture from the same thread:

https://ecomodder.com/forum/showthre...tml#post503632

It's got speed holes. Maybe those would help with the local authorities.

The SAE paper is interesting. I have seen quite a few like it over the years where a researcher claims a major breakthrough, and yet car companies do not pick it up and run with it. I'd guess in this case it's because the fans built into the rear wheels (and their associated ducts) are a large part in achieving good results from the 'fluid tail'.

Note also that the suggested shape has (apart from the last tiny bit) no descending roofline - the reason it has little lift. But the corollary of that is a big wake, so then the need for the 'fluid tail' to work really well.

I just skimmed the EM thread but all I could see was a huge amount of extrapolation from the paper, ignoring the bit about the fans! I didn't see any on-road testing of what people were doing or suggesting?