cheap areo fix! (wash & wax your car)

[ebacherville]

Originally Posted by .Cd

Also, windshield angle steeper than 45 degrees is just for 'looks' It does nothing to improve the cars drag - ( that one really took me by surprise! )

Really .. wow!.. so my rear hood lift is doing nothiing besides getting the wiper out of the air flow...

I though Basjoos said his test greenhouse wind sheild canopy thing, increased his FE?

[ttoyoda]

Really .. wow!.. so my rear hood lift is doing nothiing besides getting the wiper out of the air flow...

Don't believe everthing you read in Hotrod magazine...

[basjoos]

Originally Posted by ebacherville

I though Basjoos said his test greenhouse wind sheild canopy thing, increased his FE?

The main FE benefit of the "test greenhouse wind shield canopy thing" resulted from its rounded "A" pillars that eliminated the vortex produced by the sharp corners of the stock "A" pillars, and also since it eliminated the high pressure zone at the base of the windshield. There's nothing wrong with the angle of my stock windshield, it is just in how it was integrated into the rest of the car with its sharp "A" pillar corners and the change in angle where the hood and windshield joined. Ideally the hood and windshield should be integrated into a single curved shape with rounded corners at the "A" pillar locations.

[mar5ka]

Thats great always wonder why Saab had the rap-around windshield with the a pillar on the side, good thinking on there part I just wish they got the back right, its like 30 degress

[joesgot4]

i always thought that the closer to flat the windshield is the less drag it would have! you've seen those solar cars that race across the country there pratically flat!

[cfg83]

joesgot4 -

Originally Posted by joesgot4

i always thought that the closer to flat the windshield is the less drag it would have! you've seen those solar cars that race across the country there pratically flat!

That's what I was thinking. Maybe they are compromising between a teardrop shape and solar panel access?

The Prius hood and windshield are almost a continuous line.

CarloSW2

[cfg83]

Hello -

As I was getting popcorn, my wife saw a "wash and wax your car for better MPG" add/trailer in the movie theatre.

I wonder if the local car washes ponied up for the ad?

CarloSW2

[Stanger98]

wax doesn't help out the cars fuel efficiency nearly as much as clay-barring the car.

Using claybar, smooths out every little groove, removes dirt that can't be seen by the naked eye. It makes the body panels of the car perfectly smooth which increases fuel mileage a bit more than just wax. If you use both, they will definitely increase fuel mileage much more.

[Cd]

The fellow that was in the Hot Rod magazine article that I refered to earlier is the head of the A2 windtunnel A2WT HomePage
He helped design the EV1.
He stated that it didn't matter if your car had the "worst rattle-can paint job". Your .Cd would remain unchanged.

[garys_1k]

I agree, a dirty car won't use ANY more fuel than a clean one. Hmm, I wonder if taking a ball-peen hammer to a car, to dimple it like a golf ball, would improve it.