Quote:
Originally Posted by Phase
So Kia Redsigned their hybrid kia niro with a new body style for 2023 and increased its mpg, especially on the highway
they mentioned one of the new changes was a '' c pillar air curtain''
any thoughts on this and how it works?
|
KIA calls it a D-Pillar 'Air Blade'.
It will only be used on the Niro.
Not on any other KIA / Hyundai ? Genesis.
No specifics are given for it's performance.
CarSceneKorea did a You-Tube video road test with the duct open, then closed.
It indicated a 2.8-mpg improvement ( 4.2% ).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
* My impression is that the plastic cladding was furbelow.
* It may, itself, have been responsible for the drag, due to an enormous hard-edged, forward-facing step that it creates behind the rear doors, triggering a pressure-spike-induced separation overshoot at the D-Pillars, with no reattachment in the adverse pressure gradient.
* By 'ducting' the area, the CFD / Wind tunnel team may have been able to mitigate the stagnation spike there, and get the boundary-layer to settle down.
* Maybe around Cd 0.315 without the leakage, Cd 0.29 with it.
* It would be a way to 'save the styling,' which according to KIA was the reason for the 'Audi R8-esque' contrasting surface.