2006 Civic Coupe Aero Mods

[freebeard]

Consider the Cybertruck. Small stagnation point flanked by chamfers.

[JacobLeSann]

I think this could be an ever better consideration. At least, in terms of a nice looking upper grille block.

My bumper is pretty beat, so I wonder what’s worth doing. All the same: The less time I spend on this car, the more time I can spend on my other ones.

Hmmm…

[JacobLeSann]

Front of the car with the bumper removed. The radiator doesn’t seem to get much high pressure air even when stock. You can notice the pattern on the radiator flutes showing where it picks up airflow.



I stitched up my bumper nice and good, with a few holes that need patching. I cut the lower grille out and made a duct out of coroplast to fit inside of it.



To fit around the bumper properly, I went with a curve instead of a straight angle. It expands in height while shrinking in width. The curve might be too steep.



I don’t think there’s gonna be any chance of me making proper ducting at the rear of the radiator. This engine bay is just too packed.


Will update as I make progress. Going front to back.

[Phase]

Originally Posted by JacobLeSann

Here’s the inside of the original front bumper. The bottom edge connects the radiator support, so you can see that there’s decent length to design a bit of duct work. The upper grille is rather high, and could be moved lower or fully blocked off.



Here’s me thinking out loud. Lengthening the front of the car could help balance out the look of a longer rear end. It could reduce pressure at the front of the car. It could allow for longer ductwork; in turn allowing for an even smaller grille opening.

Emphasis on *could*. It could also put more air over the windshield, or create excess downforce up front. Have to see what happens for myself.

you actually want the front of the front undertray area to be slightly sloped and curved. creates better flow attachment underneath and increases downforce and lowers drag

[JacobLeSann]

Thank you, noted. I know Julian Edgar describes a “step” in the front-most portion of the undertray for reducing lift.

The underside of my front bumper is pretty decent and I may just build on that. Most of the mounting locations are there and it should be able to just fit up on to the car. It’s got a flat area with a step.

[Phase]

Originally Posted by JacobLeSann

Thank you, noted. I know Julian Edgar describes a “step” in the front-most portion of the undertray for reducing lift.

The underside of my front bumper is pretty decent and I may just build on that. Most of the mounting locations are there and it should be able to just fit up on to the car. It’s got a flat area with a step.

a really good example is the lightyear zero car. look at its front bumper

think of it as a '' reverse diffuser''

tesla is known for its '' skateboard'' design. so curved front and curved back like a skateboard

[aerohead]

https://ecomodder.com/forum/member-a...speed-aero.jpgThat sharp inlet of the coroplast is introducing a vena contracta entry loss, knocking the flow efficiency from 98%, down to 74%.
You need to provide a bell-mouth entry radius, all the way around to get rid of it.
If you'll look closely at Spindletop's fascia, you'll notice that the 1963,Walter Korff, NASCAR inlet, is radiused like a velocity stack on a Ford GT 40's 427.
You'll need something similar.

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by Piotrsko

Julian Edgar favored god awful gottengen profiles around his A pillar edges, but i think they were a radius increase instead of an intentional drag reduction.

Julian's a fan of the 1937 Schl'o'rwagen ( so am I ), and it was based on the leading edge of the G'o'ttingen 571 profile, and aft-body of the G'o'ttingen 570 profile.
His use on A-pillars may be an homage to to Ludwig Prandtl, Schl'o'r, and the other gentleman who created the car.
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The notion of:
Turning vanes
Guiding vanes
Annular airfoils
Auxiliary airfoils
Large Eddy Break Up ( LEBU ) devices have been explored by:
Frey, Townsend, Fl'u'gl, and NACA/NASA
between 1930, and the 1980s.
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They were primarily intended only for 2-D flow, however, use on busses were also explored.
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Only the NACA, radial engine cowl was adopted for commercial application, and are still flying today.
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As far as busses, it's not the 1930s, and on the Greyhound Bus I rode home from Arkansas this year, the nose drag constituted only 5.8% of overall drag, with surface friction at 21.5%, and 72.6% base drag.
As Freeman Thomas, of Audi & Ford Motor Company has said 'Aero is more about the rear of the car than the front.'

[JacobLeSann]

aerohead, I’m well aware of the sharp edges, just want a rough test to see what will happen should I stick a duct in there. The final version will indeed have a bell mouth and will have rounded inner corners.

I do wonder if having no “grille” in the front bumper will lead the a buildup of crud and rocks on the radiator. Lots of bugs and rocks here. Lots.

[aerohead]

I don't know about pebbles, but the bugs should collide and adhere to the inner duct, rising towards the radiator up above.
Some racers will place 1/4-inch hardware cloth in the opening to protect against rubber 'marbles' and other foreign objects kicked up by cars in front of them, making it to the heat-exchanger.
Errant plastic trash bags and palletized cargo wrap laying in the roadway on windy days probably poses the greatest risk to a cooling system.
A good reason for temperature gauges.