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Old 03-04-2021, 05:18 AM   #1 (permalink)
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Book on history of car aerodynamics

I have been very quiet recently because I have been writing a book on the history of car aerodynamics.

I am currently at 70,000 words and about 600 images - 210 pages in laid-out form. It will probably go to 90,000 words / 700 images / 250 pages, I think.

I have decided to cover only from 1920 to current i.e. a century of car aerodynamics.

The chapter listing is currently:

Introduction

Chapter 1 – Car aerodynamics
• Aerodynamic drag
• Drag coefficient and frontal area
• Aerodynamic lift
• A word about drag coefficients
• Aerodynamic forces

Chapter 2 – the 1920s
• 1921 Rumpler Tropfenwagen
• Paul Jaray and his cars
• 1923 Bugatti Type 32
• 1927 Claveau 9 CV
• 1927 1000hp Sunbeam - Mystery
• 1928 Stutz Black Hawk Special
• 1928 Opel RAK 2
• 1929 Golden Arrow

Chapter 3 – the 1930s
• 1930 Burney Streamliner
• 1933 Dymaxion
• 1934 Renault Nervasport des Records
• 1934 Chrysler Airflow
• 1935 Skoda 935 Dynamic
• 1936 Tatra T87
• 1938 Mercedes Benz Benz W25
• 1938 Mercedes Benz Benz W125
• 1938 Porsche Type 64
• 1938 Railton Special
• 1938 Volkswagen
• 1939 Mercedes Benz Benz Type 80
• 1939 Schlφr
• Wunibald Kamm and his cars

Chapter 4 – the 1940s
• 1947 V2 Sagitta
• 1948 Porsche 356
• 1949 Saab 92

Chapter 5 – the 1950s
• 1950 Volkswagen Transporter
• 1950s Jaguar racing cars
• Sighard Hoerner and his book
• 1955 Citroen DS
• 1956 Renault Ιtoile Filante
• 1958 MG EX181

Chapter 6 – the 1960s
• 1964 Bluebird
• 1966 Volkswagen wind tunnel
• 1966 Chaparral 2E
• 1967 NSU Ro 80
• 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona & 1970 Plymouth Roadrunner Superbird
• Mercedes Benz Benz C-111

Chapter 7 – the 1970s
• 1973 Porsche 911 Carrera
• 1975 Porsche 924
• 1978 Mazda RX7
• 1978 Lotus 79 (very little concrete information available, unfortunately)
• 1979 Mercedes Benz S-class

Chapter 8 – the 1980s
• 1980 Peugeot VERA
• 1980 ARVW
• 1982 Audi C3 (100)
• 1980s Ford Probes
• 1982 Ford Sierra (where are all tech papers?)
• 1983 Fiat Uno
• Wolf-Heinrich Hucho and his book
• 1988 HSV Group A Commodore
• 1989 Opel Calibra

Chapter 9 – the 1990s
• 1995 Mitsubishi Eclipse
• 1996 General Motors EV1
• 1996 Honda Dream

Chapter 10 – the 2000s
• 2000 Honda Insight
• 2005 Mitsubishi Evolution IX Lancer
• 2005 Porsche 911
• 2006 Dieselmax?

Chapter 11 – the 2010s
• 2011 General Motors Chevrolet Volt
• 2012 Tesla Model S
• 2013 Volkswagen XL-1
• 2017 Porsche Cayenne
• 2018 Volkswagen IDR?
• 2019 Chevrolet Corvette C7 ZR1
• 2019 Porsche Taycan

Chapter 12 – the 2020s – and the future
• Gordon Murray Automotive T.50
• Others?
• The future

References


Note: question marks indicate uncertainties.

I welcome suggestions for car additions, if those additions can be justified in terms of contemporaneous / long term importance. (Note: Obviously, I cannot cover cars about which there is no information available. So if you nominate a car, also nominate some detailed info on it - tech papers are best.)

I also welcome suggestions for any other text references I should use.

The experts I have contacted have been wonderfully helpful - I won't list them all here, but they are academic and car company professional aerodynamicists, including multiple ones I've previously had no contact with. And they've been making available really excellent information. I have honestly been quite humbled and bemused at their incredibly helpful responses after they have read chapters. (One example: Wolf-Heinrich Hucho's biography is insightful and also quite funny in parts. It's available in German - and then Google translate is your friend.)

Here at EM, Vman455 has been excellent in proof-reading, especially in correcting my use of German umlauts and my making of basic mistakes in percentages!

I might also add that, now having researched the German aerodynamicists and their cars from the 1930s, I am a bit more sympathetic of Aerohead's infatuation with them. (Though I certainly don't think that The Template is any more relevant to modifying modern cars than I ever thought.) But without a doubt, the 1930s advances were the greatest-ever in any single decade of car aerodynamics. And by a very long way.

Koenig-Fachsenfeld, R., Aerodynamik des Kraftfahrzeugs, 1950, is an extraordinary book - especially when all the research shown in it is based on the 1930s, not the 1950s (when it was published). Flush glass, flush headlights, realistically very low drag coefficients, pressure testing, tuft testing.

Potthoff, J. & Schmid, I.C., Wunibald I. E. Kamm –Wegbereiter der modernen, Springer, 2012 is also an amazing book. I reckon that the Kamm 1 car is my pick - a realistic Cd of 0.23 (a large car with a top speed of 183 km/h on only 66kW!) and fantastic aero rear fins.

But obviously things progress, although not always linearly, and the current Porsche Taycan is a very impressive car indeed - in any historic context.

It's been great fun writing the book - and I reckon it's about 90 per cent finished.

(But then I say that and then a professor in the UK says he has more info on the MG EX181 - would I like it? And then the former head of Porsche aero says he has actual test figures for the Porsche 356A in the modern Porsche wind tunnel - and would I like these figures? And I am then gobsmacked by how low some of them are...)

It's a fun project.

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Old 03-04-2021, 11:45 AM   #2 (permalink)
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It's good that you have time to post again. I see there was a flurry of posts in January of this year.

At first glance, all my favorites are there— the Rumpler, the Beetle, the Dymaxions and the T.50. It's too bad aircraft engine nacelles aren't on topic.

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Old 03-05-2021, 06:54 AM   #3 (permalink)
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audi a2 3l with 0,25 I think should be mentioned.
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Old 03-05-2021, 11:30 AM   #4 (permalink)
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suggestions

I'll pull some things together for your attention. My inefficient ' filing system' may make for a 'slow' process.
As to the Ford Sierra/ Merkur XR4Ti, you'll need U.S.PATENT 4,533,168, Janssen et al., August 6, 1985.
And with respect to that patent, if you can track down: German Offenlegungsschrift No. 27 37 638, this will provide context to the genesis of what Janssen et al. accomplished with Sierra / Merkur ( you'll find reference to the German reference within the PATENT ).
Also, you may find some aeronautical materials in the public domain to be germane to road vehicle aerodynamics ( JANE'S All The World's Aircraft ).
Biomimicry ditto.
Human-powered submarines.
International Human Powered Vehicle Association.
World Solar Challenge.
Shell EcoMarathon.
SAE Supermileage Competition.
Experimental Aircraft Association ( EAA ).
Hypercar Inc., Rocky Mountain Institute, Snowmass, Colorado, USA.
Speed Week and USFRA's World of Speed, Bonneville International Speedway, Wendover, Utah, USA.
American Society of Heating Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers ( ASHRAE ) Handbook.
ISO / National Plumbing Code, USA.
Very recent, first, ever, 'AERO-LOADER', backwards' rooftop cargo carrier, by Calix, tested in Norway ( You-Tube video ).
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Old 03-05-2021, 12:19 PM   #5 (permalink)
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That Mercedes with the extending tailClick image for larger version

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ID:	30269 or the Zenvo TSR-S or Pagani Huayra. Basically the new cars or concepts with adaptive aerodynamics, that is where I think the future is
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Old 03-05-2021, 06:24 PM   #6 (permalink)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by freebeard View Post
It's good that you have time to post again. I see there was a flurry of posts in January of this year.

At first glance, all my favorites are there— the Rumpler, the Beetle, the Dymaxions and the T.50. It's too bad aircraft engine nacelles aren't on topic.

No, not covering anything but cars in the designated period.
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Old 03-05-2021, 06:26 PM   #7 (permalink)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Vekke View Post
audi a2 3l with 0,25 I think should be mentioned.
I thought of it but couldn't find any detailed info on the car's aerodynamics.
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Old 03-05-2021, 06:27 PM   #8 (permalink)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by aerohead View Post
I'll pull some things together for your attention. My inefficient ' filing system' may make for a 'slow' process.
As to the Ford Sierra/ Merkur XR4Ti, you'll need U.S.PATENT 4,533,168, Janssen et al., August 6, 1985.
And with respect to that patent, if you can track down: German Offenlegungsschrift No. 27 37 638, this will provide context to the genesis of what Janssen et al. accomplished with Sierra / Merkur ( you'll find reference to the German reference within the PATENT ).
Thanks for that. I had been chasing that patent.
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Old 03-05-2021, 07:27 PM   #9 (permalink)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AeroMcAeroFace View Post
That Mercedes with the extending tailAttachment 30269 or the Zenvo TSR-S or Pagani Huayra. Basically the new cars or concepts with adaptive aerodynamics, that is where I think the future is
Yes, I've mentioned the Mercedes in the Epilogue.
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Old 03-08-2021, 02:59 AM   #10 (permalink)
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I've decided to delete the Chaparral and the Lotus 78/79 - I just am not much interested in racing cars, and so it was becoming a chore to do the research. Veloce has rejected the book, so I will publish it through Amazon - and so I can do whatever I like with content!

A really nice comment from one of my reviewers (a professional car aerodynamcist):

While it's probably true that my reviewing eye is becoming somewhat less attentive because I'm getting drawn into the history, I don't think I have anything really to add or subtract from chapters 4 & 5. It's fascinating stuff, and I'm engrossed!

Screen grab, 50s/60s chapters:


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