Aeromods for 2001 VW Beetle

[Sven7]

Ok, here we go. Looks like Kachi might have been right. Even though pretty much any spoiler didn't fix the NB's aero mess, the large midwing seems to help the most. Although saying it helps is like saying some broccoli will help dog poop taste better :P

[jakobnev]

Make the rear look like this:

[Sven7]

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by Sven7

I've waited 30-years for VW to bring this Cd 0.24 car to market.

[Sven7]

You just might get your wish with the XL1; although it is not a four-seater, it undoubtedly scores much better CdA.

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by Sven7

You just might get your wish with the XL1; although it is not a four-seater, it undoubtedly scores much better CdA.

I certainly hope that they're not just jerkin' our chain with that one.I know that some 'concepts' kinda made it to market,but sometimes were 'castrated' before making it to the showroom.
Placing this car in a James Bond blockbuster might fire the consumer imagination as BMW and other cars have done when seen on the silver screen.

[Sven7]

Originally Posted by aerohead

I certainly hope that they're not just jerkin' our chain with that one.I know that some 'concepts' kinda made it to market,but sometimes were 'castrated' before making it to the showroom.
Placing this car in a James Bond blockbuster might fire the consumer imagination as BMW and other cars have done when seen on the silver screen.

I honestly think if it's not production ready it's very, very close. Hopefully they will adapt the E-Up! electric drive train for use in an XL-E. We as a civilization need EV's badly. Perhaps VW should invest in product placement for a new Back to the Future. (Although I don't trust Hollywood not to screw it up)

[kach22i]

Originally Posted by Sven7

Yeah, I honestly doubt that spoiler is doing much actual good. It's so far out of the windstream it's actually just affecting the eddies behind the car. That's why when VW wanted to keep their cars on the road at high speeds they used ones like the Turbo one I posted.

Controlling the eddies is a very important part of any of these spoilers. Is it not?

From what I have seen posted in this forum, the air flow stays attached on the modern Bug to the bottom of the rear glass.

The air flow stays attached only to the top of the rear window on the old air-cooled Beetles.

The wings and spoilers located at the lower window edge on the +2001 Bug's are at worst; allow a clean sharp edge for the air to leave the body of the car. Another way of saying "controlling the eddies", yes?

[Sven7]

Remember, even if the New Beetle has attached flow, that is not the goal. I will posit that the sharp edges on the NB only generate very large vortexes in the wake. Since the air coming off the side will detach at the top first, the vortexes will rotate inward to the centerline, perhaps pushing that air down to an "attached" state. This would make it appear that the car has good aero, but in fact doesn't. I think only a wind tunnel test would show us for sure.





We really can't tell what's going on here but it does not look like the air is going straight down the rear window. Look at how the tufts are pointed toward the centerline.

I don't know any of this- it's all theory. But with everything I've learned on this site it seems very unlikely that the attached flow on the rear of a New Beetle is "healthy" attached flow.

The Type 1 has similar results




I'm not sure what to make of this. If you say it's all attached flow you've got to tell me why the New Beetle and not a Corolla sedan's rear window with the same angle.

I'm not trying to put you down or crap on your ideas; I'm just telling you the problems I see, and why I think that.

[bdufur]

Thanks guys! Great beta!

I'm going to mull over the kammback versus spoiler --- I need to download that software - that is some sweet flow graphics!