Factory aero tweaks ( please contribute images ) - Page 2 - Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum

Vekke · 07-04-2011, 08:01 AM

IMO the best place to this kind of studies is car shows. There are more cars at the same place so you can easily compare different cars and their solutions on aerodynamic shapes. Also at car shows you can find more exotic cars to look for where you can see more hitec solutions because costs arent so big factor for design wise than good function/aero.

Here you can find my pictures with explanations:
https://skydrive.live.com/?cid=acb1f...!342&sc=photos

kach22i · 07-04-2011, 12:59 PM

This thread is a real eye opener, I did not realize half this stuff was going on (and under) with these cars.

I've not seen that new Civic either, bet they sell more than a few of these.

Piwoslaw · 07-04-2011, 01:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kach22i

I've not seen that new Civic either, bet they sell more than a few of these.

That's because the 8th gen Civic was actually two totally different cars: The 2- and 4-door sedan was for North America and Japan, while the 3- and 5-door UFO was for Europe. The differences were more than skin deep.

Cd · 07-04-2011, 05:14 PM

Here are the cars that I had pictures of before, but seen from the middle of the underbelly. What i found interesting was that on the Fusion hybrid, there was not much effort to keep things smooth. Lowering the car and adding a full bellypan decreases the drag quite a bit.

Honda cars seem to have nice flat gas tanks with ridges to perhaps better control the airflow better. ( More likely simply to add rigidity, though I see these ridges used a lot - especially on the front of the CRZ for example )

Cd · 07-04-2011, 05:26 PM

I was especially surprised at just how sloppy that the back end was under the bumper areas on these cars. It's almost like they aren't even trying.

Actually, I came away quite encouraged with the Fiesta since it would be so easy to improve. The car is just begging for a full bellypan. The underside is a complete aerodynamic disaster, and I would think it would be easy to pull an easy 2-3 MPG more out of the car just by covering the underside.

Cd · 07-04-2011, 05:52 PM

Here are a few more images of some things i found interesting. Most new cars today are starting to sprout a small bump ( as seen on the Fit ) or a ridge ( as seen on the CRZ to trip the air and create a vortex around the mirrors to dampen sound. The Nissan Leaf takes this idea to the extreme.
I found it interesting that a lot of cars these days have wheel spoilers in front of the front and sometimes rear wheels, yet there are still quite a few that do not have these simple plastic add ons. Is it simply cutting a few pennies production cost, or do some cars do better than others with the spoilers ?
Note the size difference between the front and rear wheel spoilers on the Fusion.
I also threw in an image of the Fit rear wing. Despite being at the same angle as the roofline and thereby acting as a kammback extention, the spoiler sits high and has the added frontal area of the hinge ridges. The sides also protrude. Why was this spoiler not made flush ?

There is also an image of the trip strip found on the CRZ rear tail light. The Mazda 6 and Euro Civic ( thanks Piwoslaw ) also have this sharp edge, however it seems a waste, since it is such a small section. The surrounding areas all around the tail light are all too rounded at the rear for good flow separation.

The last image is of the Fiesta front air dam. The air dam has a nice " U" shape when seen in plan view, and the areas just in front of the tire kick out at the edges just ahead of the tires.

mcrews · 07-04-2011, 06:06 PM

2011 Audi A8

Peter7307 · 07-05-2011, 03:55 AM

There is a thread showing vehicle undersides already in this section.

It is titled "Vehicle Undersides" which is no surprise.

Peter.

Vekke · 07-05-2011, 04:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cd

Here are the cars that I had pictures of before, but seen from the middle of the underbelly. What i found interesting was that on the Fusion hybrid, there was not much effort to keep things smooth. Lowering the car and adding a full bellypan decreases the drag quite a bit.

)

Can some verify is that 50 mm ground clearance best for low drag?. I remember reading that value that it would be the optimum value...

Piwoslaw · 07-05-2011, 08:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cd

Here are a few more images of some things i found interesting. Most new cars today are starting to sprout a small bump ( as seen on the Fit ) or a ridge ( as seen on the CRZ to trip the air and create a vortex around the mirrors to dampen sound. The Nissan Leaf takes this idea to the extreme.

The Nissan Note also has one of those on its headlights. I didn't know why until now.