frontal area vs cd

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by aerohead

For an 'upgrade', it would not be practical to shrink the car by any means.

Well, there's the old hotrod "chop & channel" approach: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chopping_and_channeling

Indeed, I've sometimes wondered how hard it would be to do that to a small 4WD like the (older) Honda CR-V or Toyota Rav4.

[kach22i]

Originally Posted by arklan

is it better to have a car with low cd or low frontal area? if u can only have 1
been googling this and reading about cda but havent found a clear cut explanation
my car has a frontal area about 1.5m2 but a cd of 0.4~
im thinking of which direction i should upgrade my car (its electric)

Is it the "Blue Turd" we are talking about?

DIY Electric Car Garage - show



DIY Electric Car Garage - index

arklan Blue Turd 1983 Suzuki hatch 53 mi 150 kW $10,000 2016-01-16 Show

I wonder if you could cut out some of the rear roof and do a bubble matching the Aero-Template.

Picture this as a starting point: Suzuki Mighty Boy
http://www.icbm.com.au/mightyboy/suzuki_history.htm


What I just proposed would help eliminate a huge tapering cantilever of a rear end.

I was under the impression that Australia was pretty strict on what modifications they allow to road going vehicles. If this is the case, then unseen modifications such as a belly pan might be your better option.

[NeilBlanchard]

Originally Posted by jamesqf

It's not frontal area, but cross section, at the point where the area is greatest. Obviously, for anything except maybe a cabover semi, the area is greatest about where the driver sits, and much less at the front.

That is the definition of frontal area: the largest area of the entire vehicle as you see it from the front. It includes the wheels, side mirrors, roof, any protrusions underneath - everything you can see from the front.

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by jamesqf

Well, there's the old hotrod "chop & channel" approach: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chopping_and_channeling

Indeed, I've sometimes wondered how hard it would be to do that to a small 4WD like the (older) Honda CR-V or Toyota Rav4.

Man,you'd have to really brave to take on a unibody construction like that.The old body-on-frame construction modification would be a walk in the park in comparison.

[freebeard]

IDK, it looks like this would really stiffen up a Yaris:

[Xist]

There is not much on-line about the Monoposto, in English, at least.

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by NeilBlanchard

That is the definition of frontal area: the largest area of the entire vehicle as you see it from the front. It includes the wheels, side mirrors, roof, any protrusions underneath - everything you can see from the front.

Don't know who uses that definition, but it seems a misuse of language at best, since the area would be identical to everything you can see from the back.

[Frank Lee]

I tell people it's like the hole Wile E. Coyote makes in the fake road painting* before he falls off the five-mile-high cliff.

*Or some such

[Xist]

I... don't know anyone who would want to hear about it...

[doviatt]

Originally Posted by jamesqf

Don't know who uses that definition, but it seems a misuse of language at best, since the area would be identical to everything you can see from the back.

Ooooh! You are one of those people who insist on pronouncing those palendromes backwards.....i can't stand that.