Aerohead's going to the wind tunnel! We're passing the hat to help with costs.

[u.steinlechner]

Hello,
the wind tunel is a very expensive method of measurement.

You can improve the quaity of your aerodynamic by wool threads on the surface.
For fine modifications, I made testdrives, then I changed the shape.





Example: modification at the wheelhouse.
The wheelhouse are very sensitive, so little changes can bring a other airflow.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sc3W...1PLQ1PFOI_3HGA

Before you go in to the windtunel, make sure that you can modify the car in a short time, to compare the original car with the modifications.

A flow meter diagram can also help, to estimate the results.

Measure with open and closed air intake for the heat exchange.





More photos on flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/ulrich-steinlechner/

Kind regards
Ulrich Steinlechner

[Sven7]

Wow- HOW did I miss this?! Are there any unexpected costs you still need help with? If so PM me and I'll do what I can even if it is late.

Anyway, this is awesome and I can't wait to see the results.

x2 on seeing the Aero Civic in the tunnel next. I'd LOVE to do some testing on my F-100 with a bunch of temporary mods just for fun, but wouldn't want to waste others' money on it.

[freebeard]

Originally Posted by Xist

I would recommend Basjoos for a wind tunnel, but what would there be to test?!

I think I made the same recommendation at the Salt Flats Cafe. The anwer would be every little thing. Onroad tuft testing is as close as we can come, but vortexes can cause reattachment and fool you. With smoke in a tunnel you can see the air further away from the surfaces.

u.steinlechner -- I was going to point aerohead to your thread at http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...per-30070.html. He will have the answer to your question about relating Cd to fuel consumption. I think it's (rule of thumb) 0.01 per mpg/l or two, but I might have that backward. I wasn't successful searching the forum.

Sven7 -- I did everything I could. 60 gallons of gas just to deliver my contribution. Such sacrifice. I was forced to take lots of pctures like this one.

[Xist]

u.steinlechner, you have a lovely country. Being from Arizona, I have a deep appreciation for places where vegetation grows of its own accord and a profound love for that green color that we only see in pictures. Then they sent me to Afghanistan, which made Arizona look lush.

Many members on here do tuft testing. I started a Kamm-back for my car and planned on replacing my spoiler with a board with a hole drilled in it. I found a bolt that fit the tripod hole for my camera and planned on mounting it there, but that project never got very far.

I believe that some people actually use tuft testing in windtunnels!

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by deejaaa

great info. where ya putting the pics of the boat tails?

I'll have to lean on Al to get the camera photos into PhotoShop,then over to PhotoBucket,then on to EcoModder.
I'll try for this Saturday.
Maybe a new thread.

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by Cd

When might we get some video of the test ?

Al has some spare thumb drives and will make a copy of the video Saturday for transhipment to EcoModder Headquarters.

[aerohead]

Al got the video copied onto another thumb-drive and it's in the mail to Canada,where our fearless leader,MetroMPG has offered to get it online for all of us.
If a picture is worth a thousand words,video must be worth a million!
Thanks in advance for the You-Tube magic.

[aerohead]

Here are some mental ramblings considering wind tunnel data:
*GM reports Cd 0.28 for Chevy VOLT
*A2 wind tunnel reports Cd 0.28 for Chevy VOLT
*GM and A2 appear to come up with same Cd for same car.
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*Toyota reported Cd 0.25 for Prius III
*A2 reported Cd 0.26 for Prius III
*GM might be expected to report Cd 0.26 for Prius III
*Darko reported Cd 0.285 for Prius III
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*If Darko reported Cd 0.268 for Spirit of Ecomodder.com
*A2 and GM might have reported Cd 0.244
*Toyota might have reported Cd 0.235
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Darko reported Cd 0.251 for folded mirrors
*GM and A2 might have reported Cd 0.228 with folded-mirrors
*Toyota might have reported Cd 0.220 with folded-mirrors
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*Darko reported an estimated Cd 0.24 for a mirror-delete
*GM/A2 might have reported Cd 0.219
*Toyota might have reported Cd 0.210
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*Toyota originally published Cd 0.44 for the T-100
*Darko might have reported Cd 0.501
*If so,this would indicate a 46.5% drag reduction.
*At 65-mph,this might equate to a 25.5% mpg increase(GM Labs,1963)
*or,31.393 mpg if the baseline was around 25-mpg 'naked.'
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Since the average 65-mph trip results were 34.182 mpg (under poor conditions)
*and if the 25.5% allowance is valid
*Then the mpg difference might be attributed to:
> lower rolling resistance of the H-rated Hankook front tires
> and LRR Bridgestone rear tires
> and 'overdrive,rubber-gearing' of the oversize rear tires.
*Don't know.And I don't know how to find out.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*As we learn of additional vehicles, wind tunnel-tested,we'll hopefully,see some additional 'overlap' in cars tested,with similar vehicles at different tunnels serving as 'calibration' models,as with the Prius III.
*One door closes and three new ones open!

[California98Civic]

Thanks for the reports. Looking forward to the video!

Originally Posted by freebeard

Blackline Racing. I met them at their "World of Speed" BBQ in 2012 with my daughter. One of our Metro-driving EM members was on the team, IIRC. Still have their t-shirt. That's also when I saw the "Spirit of Ecomodder.com" in person.

[aerohead]

John Gilkison did a brief article about the 'Spirit of Ecomodder.com' at EV World.
There are a couple photos there,shot at his home near Radium Springs,New Mexico.
Last Saturday was very busy at Copy-Pro and we didn't have an opportunity to get anything out of the camera.
I'll try again this coming Saturday.
Here's a link to John's blog:The Spirit of Ecomodder : EV WORLD.COM [1289]