Building a 100mpg consumer vehicle

[sgtlethargic]

Originally Posted by pete c

... what are you supposed to do to someone who continually belittles your posts?

...

Easy: it's his thread, don't post smartass comments.

And from what I've seen, it's you that continually tries to belittle his posts.

Who do you think you are by trying to drive him away from this forum?

[pete c]

So that's the protocol here?

Just take it like a man, since "it's his thread"?

As for who started with the negative comments, and by that I mean insults, not honest opinions about his work, I think it's pretty obvious where that started.

As for who I think I am, just another shmuck on the internet trying to learn stuff, offer my 2 cents worth and be entertained, just like most others. I'm not here to troll or flame. And I sure as hell am not here to run any one off. That does not mean I feel like being a cyber doormat.

[euromodder]

Originally Posted by drmiller100

the very rear of the car is 10 inches wide and 20 inches tall.
the areas behind the fenders are 10 inches wide and 22 inches tall.

Times two ...
I too would fill them in, but it's your design, thus your call.

Good to see you're a bit closer to finishing it.
Time will tell how good it is

[sgtlethargic]

Originally Posted by pete c

So that's the protocol here?

Just take it like a man, since "it's his thread"?

As for who started with the negative comments, and by that I mean insults, not honest opinions about his work, I think it's pretty obvious where that started.

As for who I think I am, just another shmuck on the internet trying to learn stuff, offer my 2 cents worth and be entertained, just like most others. I'm not here to troll or flame. And I sure as hell am not here to run any one off. That does not mean I feel like being a cyber doormat.

"But mommy, he started it"? Come on. It's a thread about his build and you two don't seem to be able to play nice, so yeah- you save face, you take the high road, etc.

[pete c]

Originally Posted by sgtlethargic

"But mommy, he started it"? Come on. It's a thread about his build and you two don't seem to be able to play nice, so yeah- you save face, you take the high road, etc.

It's kinda funny, "but mommy, he started it" pretty much says it all. I think I have taken the high road and continued to be complimentary, despite some of what's already been said, but that doesn't mean I can't still give an opinion.

Let me ask an honest question. Do you believe build threads should be nothing more than the builder explaining what he's doing? Should comments be limited to praise? I agree that there should be some level of decorum and if you read through the earlier pages, there is plenty of praise along with people giving opinions or advice. In pretty much every case, doug comes back with nasty smartass comments and of course things tend to snowball from there.

[pete c]

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

There is darn little going for his shape aerodynamically besides the small frontal area and small trailing wake area at the rear. I think the entire sides from the front fenders on back are in a sea of turbulence because of the design of the front fenders. It probably makes no difference to aero if that scoop is there or not. It is entirely possible that a pickup has a better Cd.

This design actually has a good shot at good flow all along to the rear, such that the small trailing wake at the rear is the only wake. The rise on the bottom is probably too steep though.

That thing is neat. I think this type of design is a better way to go for a homebuilt tadpole which uses the front half of a car. It does have a larger silhouette, but, doesn't have the issues of transitioning from a wide front clip to a narrow tandem cockpit.

I think that tandem still is the way to go when building the entire vehicle from scratch, however.

[skyking]

Idle control and some lights, eh? very short list. Can't wait to hear how it drives. Here's another thought to ponder, If I have not already missed it: an active rear wheel steering and/or lean. Complicated? oh yeah. Change the handling, cornering, etc. OH YEAH!
I know, certainly not going to happen in this prototype but while we are dreaming out loud, why not?

[serialk11r]

Hmmm, about the giant area behind the front wheels, perhaps drmiller100 could put some ducts into the front bumper which pipe air directly into the space behind the fenders.

[NeilBlanchard]

Hi Doug,

Originally Posted by drmiller100

the greenhouse is BEHIND the front fenders

The frontal area is everything that you can see from the front when your eyes are level with it, so it even includes the portion of the rear wheel below the belly. Think of it this way: take a laser beam set up so it is perfectly level in front of the car. If you put a panel behind the car and used the laser to trace a precise outline of the car all the way around onto the panel -- that profile would be the frontal area.

It includes the fenders and hood, the greenhouse that is above the hood, the side mirrors (if they protrude outward and can be seen from the front) and the tires and suspension and exhaust or anything that protrudes and forms part of this frontal profile.

Here's a polyline trace that I did of the Aptera -- the rendering on the left should have the rear wheel traced, but is not visible; while the photo on the right is made with a long lens and is more accurate (even though I had to estimate the lower piece of the tire):



The hatched grid on the polyline outline are 1 foot squares, by the way, so they give an idea of the scale of the various parts. DataCAD can precisely measure the area of the polyline outline. (It also can measure the perimeter, etc.)

[Diesel_Dave]

I don't know about the rest of you but, at this point, I think Doug is close enough to have his work speak for itself. Everybody and their brother can have an opinion as to his design, but here shortly he'll be putting up some real numbers (I assume).

In the end, good or bad, how it actually performs on the road is all that will matter. I for one, am interested to see the results.