Aero thoughts please

[markweatherill]

Thanks all, very interesting. As you may have suspected, I now own one of these things.
I can tell you that at speed I haven't noticed buffeting from side winds despite the slab sides, and hardly any wind noise.

Weight saving appears to be one of the design features - as with the Yaris which this is based on - and I hadn't considered that the corrugations could lead to even thinner metal being used. But certainly the panels are very very light but also, considering that, very rigid.

[Frank Lee]

I doubt they used a thinner guage than usual.

[cfg83]

markweatherill -

Interesting car. Based on a Yaris, you say? I like the wheel covers. Here's a drawing :



I Flow Illustrated it :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPz1ogZhEkI

CarloSW2

[Bicycle Bob]

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

I doubt they used a thinner guage than usual.

I remember the campaign the steel makers had to mount to get Detroit to stop ordering 29 different thicknesses that were within a few thou of each other. Typically, an engineer had specified a new guage for some item, and then it became a catalog option. Eventually, they accepted a new standard with regular small increments.

[jamesqf]

Maybe the flat rear glass is cheaper?

[cfg83]

jamesqf -

Originally Posted by jamesqf

Maybe the flat rear glass is cheaper?

That's a cool question. My assumption with this is car is that it is a "boutique" retro-car trying to emulate the Citroen 2CV look. The flat panels also remind me of the VW Kübelwagen/Thing. Consequently, I think the flat panel look is for style that may accidently translate into lower manufacturing costs.

markweatherill -

Can you tell us if the rear window is indeed flat? Are the side windows also flat? Are there a lot of "flat shapes" in the design that would imply ease of manufacture?

CarloSW2

[markweatherill]

Sorry for the delay in replying!
The side and rear windows are quite flat, I'm not sure if the rear is perfectly flat.
And many thanks for flow illustrating it. That looks not too bad, airflow-wise, to me.

Underneath there's a frontal 'undertray' composed of engine covers and a flattish floor, but at the back a huge airspace exists where the rear bumper looks like a parachute. I'm thinking of covering that with a flat piece of perspex or something.