New bug, .38 CD why?

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by aerohead

Both old and new Beetle are pseudo-fast back cars.The original air-cooled Beetle took advantage of the separated flow,spanwise vortex crashing against the body where the cooling air inlet slits are located to feed the cooling fan.

The original Beetle was not only sucking air in to feed the cooling fans, it was pushing that air out at a higher temperature. So maybe aerodynamics of pure shape don't exactly apply - same principle as a blown wing?

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by COcyclist

Here is a link to more photos of Ernie Rogers' New Beetle wing.

MAX-MPG TECHNOLOGY

I wonder how necessary those tall end caps are? Would something with a flat top and sides, with respect to the angles of the teardrop template, work for a hatchback too?... sort of like an extended trunk/cargo box??

CO,I think that just a simple shelf would 'show' at the gas pump.I've been looking at some high-end super cars and successful racers,and they either followed the template line or pushed their rear spoilers out to meet it.
Some examples are: 1965 Ford Mk IV,Ferrari F 40,Lotus Esprit Turbo,Ford GT,Bugatti B 110,and Saleen Mustang S-351.
The end-caps ( capping-plates ) could be as small as you see on many dragsters,as these are wind tunnel tested and track proven.
Ernie may have chosen the larger caps to help the Bug's side-body flow to intersect the top flow at closer the same velocity to prevent longitudinal votices from forming where the two flows meet.Don't know.I'll read his build thread when I can.

[Dave's Civic Duty]

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

Mags say a new new Beetle is on the way...

I hope they don't ruin it like Ford is starting to do w/ the Mustang.:confused

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by COcyclist

Here is a link to more photos of Ernie Rogers' New Beetle wing.

MAX-MPG TECHNOLOGY

I wonder how necessary those tall end caps are? Would something with a flat top and sides, with respect to the angles of the teardrop template, work for a hatchback too?... sort of like an extended trunk/cargo box??

Kick me if I'm repeating myself,but we kicked some of Ernie's tech around,and this is my take on it.
The New Beetle is still a pseudo-Jaray car and it no doubt suffers from attached-vortices on both sides of the car.So with respect to the endplates,I believe they are addressing this issue as span-wise flow control fences would on an aircraft wing.
I think also,that the end-plates actually 'tailor' the wake as long C-pillar bulkheads might on say the Daytona Charger and some of Mercedes-Benz AMG super cars.I think it's better with them.
With respect to the template,yes,absolutely,it will work for any car.Blending the C-pillars back is good although you do introduce a blind-spot on the passenger side ( like 1st-gen Insight) and must become more accustomed to relying on your mirrors in traffic.
Any combination of wings and caps can be fashioned to 'force' the air to follow closer the the template path.On my CRX I had a combo upper wing,extended C-pillars,and tail extension,kind of a hybrid bi-wing affair.
The only hitch is the ability to open the hatch with the unit attached,so it can't have 'thickness near the top or there'll be interference every time you try to open it.

[NeilBlanchard]

New new Beetle:

[Deezler]

Neil, I think that is the beetle "ragtop" concept. It's rumored that the actual new beetle will use some cues from this concept, but that's not the actual design, afaik.

[gone-ot]

...MOTSOS

...More Of The Same Old Stuff.

...looks like merely a re-scupting of the current bug design.

[Deezler]

Sorry, not "ragtop" but "ragster"

Report: VW New Beetle successor timeframe and details come into focus — Autoblog

[Frank Lee]

Originally Posted by Old Tele man

...MOTSOS

...More Of The Same Old Stuff.

...looks like merely a re-scupting of the current bug design.

I wouldn't discount it that badly.

Besides, that's the "Beetle" way, right? The timelessness is partly why we love the old Beetles!

One of my very first impressions of the NB from back when they came out was that rear seat headroom was woefully inadequate and that they should have been able to alter the roofline (ed zachary like new Prius did) to greatly improve it without hurting the design integrity, but the stylists won that battle and they built a car with a seriously compromised back seat. NNB proportions give me the impression they are addressing that concern.

In fact it was the lousy rear headroom that pretty much knocked NB off my potential new car list. (Yes, once upon a time I would have bought a new car or a fairly new used one)

Ford did a similar thing with the Taurus back in '98(?); when they did that totally oval redesign they TOOK AWAY back seat headroom in the name of exterior design. And I thought, how freekin stupid can these committees be- this is their bread-and-butter full-sized sedan and they're TAKING AWAY headroom for the sake of a rather dubious design direction?!? I KNEW they would come to regret it, and they did. I'll give them credit for doing a great job on the freshening it got when they made the lighting more angular and raised the roof.

[NeilBlanchard]

I was in my kid's dentist office today, and the Motor Week (or was it Motor Trend, or Road & Track?) showed a upcoming Beetle that had a flattened/lowered roofline. It is a hardtop, and they did mention that it is similar to the ragtop concept...