Quote:
Originally Posted by bentring
Although I've long been fascinated with automobile aerodynamics, I don't have enough knowledge and interest to speak of the science, so I usually don't bother parroting what's accepted as common knowledge here.
I know there's been prior debate of the subject of the template I haven't read, so if this information has been discussed to death feel free to disregard this post; but I feel like information, pictures, and videos on this page would be relevant to the discussion. |
With respect, this is likely to just send us back to the BS from which the original garbage descended.
Note: I am
not saying that these cars are of no interest, or they they were backward at the time. In fact I am a great fan of them.
But....
The Cd values recorded at the time for these cars are
highly unreliable, as has been demonstrated when full-size cars of the past have been tested in modern wind tunnels.
...and...
The designers of the time cared nothing about lift, and so basically all the shapes shown are of such high lift they would never be released by any responsible car company today.
...and...
In general, the designers were not aware of the drag resulting from trailing vortices, and so attached flow was often seen as an end in itself.
More than anything else, these factors explain why no current cars look anything like these cars. For exactly the same reasons, it also explains why using some sort of standardised approach (a template) based on these ideas is usually a pretty bad idea, and using such a template as some sort of model for changing an existing car is an even worse idea.