Ford Probe-V Cd 0.137 image

[Cd]

Originally Posted by NeilBlanchard

That windshield glass is mighty expensive, I would say?

Well at least the most important thing about the car made it to production.


( The stripe on the seats of course ! )


I wonder how long you could survive in that car on a hot Texas day.

[Frank Lee]

Put this bad boy under the template!

[basjoos]

Originally Posted by California98Civic

Thanks aerohead. How was the Probe able to turn with these front skirts?

The front skirt was a polyurethane sheet. The front wheel was mounted inside a fender that turned with the wheel so the fender pressed against and pushed the sheet outward when making a sharp turn.

This was one of the front skirt technologies I investigated when designing the front skirts on my car, but I turned it down because polyurethane is pricey in the sizes and thicknesses needed for a skirt. Also I didn't think the polyurethane would hold up very long against sunlight UV and other threats of daily driving. Works fine for a concept car, but less so for a car that is going to be used as a daily driver in all weather for 10 years.

[NeilBlanchard]

I hope to have a good working solution with mechanically hinged wheel skirts, on CarBEN EV. And I hope to beat or equal the Cd of the Probe -- the rear wheels have a narrower track, so it is possible...

I am assuming that the seams on the sides of the Probe are active cooling vents? If so, then the Cd drops when the car is running.

[autogyro]

Thanks for the "live" pix Neil. Notice the tiny center fin in the rear view. Hmmmmm?

[NeilBlanchard]

The fin is probably for stability and/or the cyclops brake light?

[CFECO]

It sure looks like they could have narrowed the rear some. Those flat sides don't fit the Template from above.

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by California98Civic

Thanks aerohead. How was the Probe able to turn with these front skirts?

I never got a press kit from Ford,just the slide.I haven't done an exhaustive search,but it seems like Ford has said actually quite little about the V.
Perhaps the front spats are also urethane rubber,like Probe-IV and deform to allow the inner fender articulation.Just guessing.
OOPs! I shouild have read ahead in the posts.basjoos covered this question.Thanks!

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by Cd

Well at least the most important thing about the car made it to production.


( The stripe on the seats of course ! )


I wonder how long you could survive in that car on a hot Texas day.

That's a really good point.And my guess is that in a production car,they'd have to do the gold vapor deposition( as NASA does with the space suit visors) within the glass laminations to reflect the heat away from the greenhouse,giving the AC a fighting chance.

[Frank Lee]

It would be easy to redefine the borders of the glass such that there's less of it, and in easier to make shapes.