MG Midget + Geo Metro 3cyl = MGeo

[Christ]

...moving on.

[guudasitgets]

Originally Posted by nimblemotors

Thanks for the encouragement, best of luck to you.

You know you had an intresting build. But you killed it for me when you started wining and stomping your feet and implying "you can have any opinion so long as it agrees with mine". Now you sound like a little kid that someone just took his hot chocolate away.

[Frank Lee]

Aerohead has probably forgotten more about aerodynamics than the average bear ever knew in the first place. He's built and tested a lot of stuff too.

That said, I think he should have read a few more pages of the thread before posting. I disagree with the assertion that the Cd of this car is 2x the Cd of a Metro- .45/2=.225 and Metros are >.225- and the front end and windshield mods will impact aero in a good way to boot.

[gasstingy]

I came to this thread late as well, and today just finished reading all the posts in the order they were written. I've enjoyed the work that's been done, most notably the fiberglass outside carbon fiber inside panels you've made and other light-weighting. Most of the mods you've done are beyond my current skill set, but I do what I can do.

I certainly hope you continue the thread through to its completion and that we can all remain civil while it progresses. I more than understand the aggravation in a project taking many times longer than the time originally allotted. I've been doing a building project for more than 3 years because other things seem to pop up when I want to be working on my project. So, I wish the best of luck to you and will look for updates as you have the time to post them.

[etard]

Please do link to your website, seems a shame someone deflated your balloon just as you were gaining altitude. Please finish this project just to quiet the naysayers.

Many of us have always loved the quwerky small cars like the Midget, so what if a Geo Metro is slipperier, Eco modding will only sell others on it's merits if it inspires. This project is inspiring!

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by nimblemotors

1. Your apology is not accepted.
2. You are wrong.
3. A Geo Metro is ugly, a MG Midget is a sports car.

*My comment meant no disrespect to you or your project.I'm just attempting to stick with science.
*I've been wrong many times and I have no expectations that that trend will end.
*When it comes to posting though,I attempt to bring prima facie evidence to the table in an effort to spare members the heartbreak of losing hundreds if not a thousand hours on a dead-horse project.
*'Ugly' is a subjective term which cannot be quantified.
*Any car with a specific power-to-weight ratio is by definition a 'sports car.' (I suppose my pickup truck is a 'sports car.' It's faster than a Chevrolet Corvette of the same horsepower).
*Convertibles have recorded Cds on the order of 0.85 with the top down.
*The MG TD is Cd 0.75 with the top up.
*The Lotus Super 7 is Cd 0.67.
*I've no specific data for your car.
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The nose of the car can constitute less than 6% of the overall drag of a vehicle.
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*All the 'action' is from the windshield to the rear.
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*The windshield of the MG,without any significant edge radii is capable of triggering flow separation with 'over-shoot' significant enough that the flow will never re-attach,top or sides.
*Dr.Walter Lay of the University of Michigan proved it in 1933.
*Dr.Wunibald I.Kamm verified Lay's results later in the 1930s.
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Since reducing separation is the fundamental premise for all automotive streamlining,you've got your work cut out for you.
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*The Metro may have less than half the drag coefficient of the MG.
*And even though the MG has less frontal area,it might have to be 9-square-feet just to break even with the Metro.
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*I like your car.Friends owned them when I was in high school.I enjoyed driving them and riding in them.
*Scientifically though,you've taken on a Herculean task.

[freebeard]

Here's hoping the two of you can get along.

___________
nimblemotors -- At #post299708 you were asking about the rear wheels wells and I don't see where that went.

*All the 'action' is from the windshield to the rear.

I think you could do a lot with the underside and lower rear:



And here's a windshield. The radius only needs to be something like 4% of the width of the windshield.
Maybe a piece of DOT safety glass held by posts milled out of clear polycarbonate stock?

[guudasitgets]

Originally Posted by aerohead

*Convertibles have recorded Cds on the order of 0.85 with the top down.
*The MG TD is Cd 0.75 with the top up.
*The Lotus Super 7 is Cd 0.67.
*I've no specific data for your car.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
The nose of the car can constitute less than 6% of the overall drag of a vehicle.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
*All the 'action' is from the windshield to the rear.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
*The windshield of the MG,without any significant edge radii is capable of triggering flow separation with 'over-shoot' significant enough that the flow will never re-attach,top or sides.
*Dr.Walter Lay of the University of Michigan proved it in 1933.
*Dr.Wunibald I.Kamm verified Lay's results later in the 1930s.

aerohead; I can add to that, In the SCCA Mazda Miata pro series cars they race with a hardtop on, better aerodynamics than with the top down. Same will happen with this MG Midget. Whether to OP wants to believe this data is all up to him. But this has been proven in the wind tunnel.

[guudasitgets]

Originally Posted by etard

seems a shame someone deflated your balloon

No-one deflated his balloon. If it is deflated then he did that on his own. I too would like to see the end of the project. But none of us has any power to stop a project by tapping keys on a keyboard.

[COcyclist]

Originally Posted by freebeard

I think you could do a lot with the underside and lower rear:



And here's a windshield. The radius only needs to be something like 4% of the width of the windshield.
Maybe a piece of DOT safety glass held by posts milled out of clear polycarbonate stock?

I don't mean to fan the flames on this thread but only the Corvette looks to me like it was modded with low drag in mind. Jack McCornack enclosed the wheels (went from a Lotus 7 style body with separate fender to a custom fiberglass Lola style body with the fenders integrated into the body) and removed the windshield altogether to build the lowest drag/highest mpg version of his sports car, Max. Fuel Economy Competition in Ohio: Over 150 MPG! Scroll down to see a photo of Jack and his car.