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Old 11-15-2008, 03:56 PM   #43 (permalink)
aerohead
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The 1989 GM Impact/EV-1/EV-2 scored Cd0.188 .While a "production" car,it was never "sold",so I don't know if it qualifies as the lowest or most teardrop.In the archives,in the Phil Knox aerodynamic photos,there is an overhead photo of these cars which show the plan taper beginning at mid-door,and progressively tapering as the body proceeds aft.At Fort Stockton,Texas,the GM team added an aluminum boattail,along with flat wheelcovers and ductape,and pushed the car to 183-mph for a closed-course land speed record.There's a photo of that car over in the archives also.----------------- To my knowledge,the HONDA Insight,at Cd0.25,remains the lowest drag production car ever offered in the U.S..There are many cars now with Cd0.26,although with larger frontal areas.----------- The Lotus Europa/Elan mentioned by others,sold in the 1960s is rated at Cd0.29 but has extremely small frontal area and may be one of the candidates for lowest CDA.It does not look "teardropped" at all.----------------------- And final note,and this is pretty anal,but the Toyota Ra-Ra,solar car,which is a street-legal production car,sold in Japan only,would probably qualify as the most "teardropped" and would,with closed-canopy,have a Cd on the order of 0.12.
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