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Old 10-08-2008, 12:44 PM   #26 (permalink)
fit7ad
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MetroMPG View Post
I was too, until I re-read a bit about wheel well/tire aerodynamics:

"The top of the wheel is moving into the air stream at twice the driving speed, and is trying to drag the air forward against the stream." (Contribution of different devices to the total drag - Chalmers University)

So the air being dragged up & forward at the top/outside of the tire collides with the normal air stream flowing aft ... and makes a mess. I think that may be what we're seeing above/aft of the top of the wheel arch.
Any chance you can repeat the tuft test with a partial cover? There may be significant improvement just by lowering the wheel arch a bit. That would be really helpful to less ambitious folks like myself. Thanks for the good work.
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