Quote:
Originally Posted by racprops
The 03 Ford Explorer:
Curb Weight 4,381 lbs
2003 Crown Vic 3,942 lbs.
SUV is 439 pounds heavier the 03 Crown Vic
The 2003 Ford Explorer has a drag coefficient of .41 Cd.
The 2003 Ford Crown Vic has a drag coefficient of .37
The 67 Mustang had .45
VW Bug .48
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How about frontal area? (I'll use metric since the math is easier)
I'm seeing the Crown Vic as: 1.44m height x 1.98m wide
Ford Explorer: 1.80m height x 1.88m wide
Crown Vic frontal area = 2.85mē
Ford Explorer frontal area = 3.68mē
Crown Vic CdA = 2.85 * 0.37 = 1.05
Ford Explorer CdA = 3.68 * 0.41 = 1.51
Going by wind drag alone, where the Crown Vic would get 30mpg, you should expect 20mpg in the Explorer, due to it having a 50% larger CdA and needing 50% more energy to push it through the air. Drag goes up exponentially with speed so you'd also expect the Explorer to drop much more steeply with speed. The fact that it doesn't, up to a certain point, is what's more puzzling.