BMW i3 - Low Hanging Fruit (improving aerodynamics)

[JulianEdgar]

Originally Posted by freebeard

Google fails to find the Edgarwit™ air curtain thread.

I was telling my 15 year old son about people on discussion groups using stupid, pretentious names for aerodynamic stuff - 'ecowings', etc.

He said, "What, like Edgarwits?"

[Snax]

Next step: Wheel width and offset comparison testing.

So as somebody who likes to race my car when I am not geeking out on efficiency, I have been very interested in the real world impact of using wider wheels and tires on my car - and I am hoping to improve front end traction, but that part really doesn't matter here.

The stock setup for mine is staggered 5.0" and 5.5" wheels with 155mm and 175mm section width tires as standard. Non-range extended BEV models get the narrower wheels and tires on all four axles. The BEVs also have an officially advertised Cd of 0.01 lower. So with that said, I have purchase a complete set of staggered wheels in the same style as mine to see if I can actually measure a difference in aerodynamic performance between full skinny, staggered, and full wide setups. Eventually, the wider wheels will likely end up with 195mm section width tires on them which I will test as well.

My hope is that between throttle stop testing and new OBD data I have been able to acquire on reported motor torque from the Deep OBD app, I can make some real world conclusions about how much this really impacts things. Obviously, I don't think going wider in any respect is going to improve efficiency, but it would be nice if I can determine what impact it really has, right?

[JulianEdgar]

Look forward to your test results.

[Ecky]

Yep, also following.

[Snax]

Still waiting on the wheels, so installed my side view cameras yesterday. I'm not super pleased with the performance, but I also only spent $79 on the entire setup and it is an improvement nonetheless. I am going to keep shopping and hope better options turn up, but will keep it for now.

So now with my phone on it's mount, a scant 6 LCD screens are visible.

[California98Civic]

Originally Posted by Snax

Still waiting on the wheels, so installed my side view cameras yesterday. I'm not super pleased with the performance, but I also only spent $79 on the entire setup and it is an improvement nonetheless. I am going to keep shopping and hope better options turn up, but will keep it for now.

So now with my phone on it's mount, a scant 6 LCD screens are visible.

It is not clear to me where the cameras are in these photos, not knowing the car all that well. On the doors? In place of the mirror?

[Snax]

Originally Posted by California98Civic

It is not clear to me where the cameras are in these photos, not knowing the car all that well. On the doors? In place of the mirror?

Mission accomplished on that count.

Yeah, the cameras are at the rear edge of front fender in line with the door handles and body line.

[California98Civic]

Originally Posted by Snax

Mission accomplished on that count.

Yeah, the cameras are at the rear edge of front fender in line with the door handles and body line.

They look great. Any plans for some tuft testing? It would be really interesting to see side by side photos of before/after tufts.

[Snax]

No plans for that. It seems like it would be a lot of time spent for little practical benefit, as obviously the mirror removal is likely a significant cleanup on it's own. It will be interesting to note dirt lines on the body after driving around in the wet for awhile though I'm not sure that will reveal much.

[California98Civic]

Originally Posted by Snax

No plans for that. It seems like it would be a lot of time spent for little practical benefit, as obviously the mirror removal is likely a significant cleanup on it's own. It will be interesting to note dirt lines on the body after driving around in the wet for awhile though I'm not sure that will reveal much.

I appreciate that. I also make such judgements. I often just don't have the time or bandwidth leftover after work and home life. I only ask because well... this is ecomodder, lol! I've been asking stuff like that for a decade here. I have done mods, or changed mods based on the educated judgements you describe. Enjoy. The cameras and monitors look great.