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Old 12-04-2008, 09:36 AM   #10 (permalink)
basjoos
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Aerocivic - '92 Honda Civic CX
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hasbro View Post
I have seen some side skirts that run from the inside of the front tire to the outside of the rear tire, which moves some of the underbody flow to the sides. I can see where they might be good for performance but could they be developed for fe? Somewhat similar to the Insight's front wells that dump to theside?
This setup would move the turbulent air coming off the back side of the front wheels to the side of the car just outboard of the rear wheels, while at the same time moving some air from under the car and feeding it into the front of the rear wheels. This might help FE on a car or semi with a non-aerodynamic underside by diverting some of the air out from under the vehicle and relocating it from contact with the rough underside to the smoother sides of the vehicle.

It would hurt FE on a car with a smooth underside and aero shielded (wheel well skirts, front air diverters, wheel boattails) wheels, since it would disrupt the linear flow of air under the car by redirecting it into the rear wheels. Any time you change the direction of an airflow, you create drag so you want to keep the airflow as linear as possible while still getting it past the car.
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