Which mass produced car is closest to a teardrop shape ?

[Peter7307]

Originally Posted by jamesqf

That depends on your frame of reference. Remember that you're talking to someone who thinks his Honda Insight is a bit too big, and that Lotus Europa is more the proper size for a car :-)

A man after my own heart. !

Personally I have always thought the Europa was a much overlooked car especially the Renault engined early model with the sails. aka "the breadvan"

A brilliant concept sadly let down by indifferent quality control and frustratingly poor detail design.

Pete.

[Cd]

Originally Posted by basslover911

hahahah I would PAY to see that!!!

PAY!!!

Backwards Porsche 928.

Strange

[Memorytwo]

i was gonna say the new beetle

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by Peter7307

Personally I have always thought the Europa was a much overlooked car...

Yeah. Illustrates my bad timing: I was too young to drive when they were new, too poor to buy one when they were just used cars, and too - I don't know, sensible maybe? - to buy one as a daily driver now that they're valuable classics :-(

[some_other_dave]

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

I think it's a real Porsche 356.

It is. Early one, too--maybe mid-50s?

Get a load of the prototype 356! (I guess it's a '48)

Not a prototype 356; this was one of a couple of KdF-Wagens (that would be early-early-early Bugs to you and me) that was modified by Dr. Porsche for VW (or was he in charge of VW at the time?) to attempt setting land-speed records, either in the late 1930s or early 1940s. It may have been called the W12? (A Google search turns up a lot of other stuff for VW Type W12, though.)

-soD

[1.5Ldave]

Its a common misconception that the old cars are heavy. Really they weigh about the same or less than most modern cars because there's really nothing to them. They were bare bones designs, without any of the modern creature comforts or electronics or extra safety devices to weigh them down.

IIRC my dads 38 chevy 4 door weighs roughly the same as his 04 camry. And thats after adding a bunch of creature comforts (leather, ac, auto trans, power windows and locks, stereo equip, etc)

The new beetle is a bad choice for optimum aero because its curves are too sharp and the flow wont stay attached.

[some_other_dave]

Yes! There it is: The prototype Bug was built for a race from Berlin to Rome:

Porsche 64 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It, and two other copies, were built in 1939.

-soD

[lunarhighway]

the topview of a car is also a nice indication of it's aero

here's a pic i snapped of my car out of the second floor window.

i like the way especially the rear, but actually the whole side of the car makes a continuous curve.

[pawilkes]

Originally Posted by aerohead

My neighbor Bob had a Miata.After driving him to Lubbock,Texas in my CRX,he was so impressed with the mpg that he sold his Mazda upon returning home and bought a CRX to replace it.It was all grins from there on out.He did not consider the Miata to be a worthy candidate for mpg.Thats the only experience I have around the little Mazda.

you may be right, i've been wanting to look into it more. I know the stock Cd value is .4 something, which is pretty bad so if it was drastically decreased, the mpg could go up a bit. it has a couple other things going for it: low weight and a small frontal area. i don't know if the rear wheel drive would be less efficient.

[hypermiler01]