Do air tabs work?

[undeRGRound]

Very Nice, Ulrich!
I was being "tongue-in-cheeky" actually. These wishbones are producing 2 vortices as opposed to one from an older design I saw in the PJK "Guide to Free Energy Devices".
It was located in the mileage section.

Now don't everybody jump on about "Free Energy"

I think it is a misnomer and that nothing is free.

[nil0lab]

Originally Posted by euromodder

Nobody on here has been able to proof they do improve FE, and it wasn't for lack of trying

I still think they could work, but not in the usual massively/truck-sized variety on a regular car.

Something more subtle might do the trick.
Renault / Dacia had them on the rear roof line of their eco-Logan.

Apparently they don't even work at big-truck scale. See https://www.tc.gc.ca/media/documents...T-MAY_2012.pdf section 7.5.2.2

Wish they did. My boxy-backed Smart Fortwo should be able to do better than the measly 38-39 it gets. Well, I do break 40 when I can keep it to 65 with no stop and go traffic, but how often does that happen?

T

[freebeard]

Not sure it's worth it's own thread so I'll drop this here:


Mulsanne's Corner: GT-One, 101?

The three curved vanes spin the air under the car, increasing the downforce.

[Arragonis]

Spotted these on a Morrisons supermarket truck here the other day



No info on if it helps yet.

[freebeard]

That's a lot of air tabs!

Nice truck. Front corner turning vanes/air curtains, closely fitted cycle fenders on all the tires. Is that a spare or low-rider drive axle? And did you see an angle that showed the cab/van gap? In the picture it looks like 0.

[euromodder]

Originally Posted by Arragonis

Spotted these on a Morrisons supermarket truck here the other day

No info on if it helps yet.

Closing (or blanketing) the tractor - trailer gap could be one of their best appliances IMO


Also see Ulrich Steinlechner's posts with VG in front of the wheel arches: Cw is down - however slightly - by 0,001 despite the added drag of generating vortices.

That's in addition to the seriously reduced lift.
(Together with the nose, they've just about halved aerodynamic lift - that's massive ! )

And as lift induces drag ...

[euromodder]

Originally Posted by freebeard

Front corner turning vanes/air curtains, closely fitted cycle fenders on all the tires.

That's normal on Euro style cab-over tractors

Is that a spare or low-rider drive axle?

Lowerable axle
It's not uncommon over here to see rigs with only half of their axles being used
(2 out of 3 on the tractor, and 1 out of 3 on the trailer) when rolling empty.

And did you see an angle that showed the cab/van gap? In the picture it looks like 0.

Most Euro tractors will have plates that partially cover the tractor-trailer gap.
From this angle, it'll look like there is no gap.

Still lots of low-hanging fruit on that Morrison's rig.