GM AERO 2000 Cd 0.23

[Laurentiu]

Vectra A 2.0T - 1365kg

all the data is from Ultimate Specs - Car Specifications & Picture Gallery & Blueprints & Forum

Curb weight on W...pedia is 'up to' 1,199 kg. Which suggests Calibra was heavier. Maybe all that glass

Well, to be fair, lets compare similar engines:

Calibra 2.0 4x4 vs. Vectra A 2.0 4x4
The Calibra is almost 100kg lighter (1365 vs. 1270) but the Vectra had a turbo and (much) more hp, 204bhp to be more exact...In all honesty I would think the difference were probably negligible.

[lunarhighway]

the opel tech 1 is perhaps also worth mentioning, same period and same Cd, as the aero 2000 and it looks like it had more than a little influence on the vectra and also calibra. unfortunately not much data on this car.



the hubcaps are actually taken from a rekord, wich gives an idea of how cars at the time looked

the vectra replaced the ascona
comparing the two side by side gives and idea how revolutionary the now almost bland aero styling must have been


perhaps also worth mention again here is the
opel flextreme gte with a 0.22

i love the design of this car as it look pretty and practical at the same time,
however with -0.015Cd almost 30 years later, i wonder where the EXTREME part is

[Laurentiu]

Found a bit more info on the Tech 1 Here

[Arragonis]

Originally Posted by lunarhighway

The Rekord isn't bad compared with other cars at the time for Aero. Even the early ones had a good stab at aerodynamics - this is the Vauxhall one from the late 70s which the Rekord (above) is based on.



GM at the time (mid-late 70s) was doing this DRG thing which Wayne Cherry was in charge of. DRG stood for (apparently, marketspeak alert) Down the Road Graphics. They did things like the "droop snoots" which changed this



into this



which was copied by ford who turned this



into this



as a kind of part response. At the same time as the Rekord Ford was making this



Rover made this



and Renault made this



And of course the queen of 70s Aero...



So in Europe we had it good for aero - at the same time (1981) GM in the US does this



and Ford does this



And then over the next 2 years Ford (Europe) came up with this



and this



The Sierra really pushed the envelope for Aero not only in terms of styling but also in terms of stability - early models suffered from high speed problems because it moved the air so gently that the centre of pressure (the air joining back together after its been moved out of the way) was in the boot instead of somewhere behind the car. Later ones had sort of wings attached to the 3rd side window to solve this without drag. Cool.

And then after this we got the 80s with grills and old-world retro shapes...

[lunarhighway]

perhaps another car worth mentioning is the opel kadett.

in 1979 the kadett D came out. at the time a mechanically advaced car with clever practical package and a, for the time, class leading Cd of 0.39 (!)

in 1984 the next gen of this car basically placed an aerodynamic body, on the same mechanical underpinning

yet the Cd went to 0.32
and even 0.30 for the GSI
(rear spoiler, hood vents, different bumper and grille shape with lower airdams in front of the wheels and plastic moldings shielding the front face of the rear tires )

i think this mostly shows the importance of detail optimisation, as both cars have esentially the same layout.

[Arragonis]

Good spot on the Kadett / Astra. If they hadn't all rusted by now then a Kadett E (?) Mk 2 Astra would be a good start for an aero project.

I realised why I kept getting Calibre mixed up with Calibra. Cavalier Calibre run out model...

[vwdevotee]

I find it so odd that these cars only managed to get 0.23 with all the aero tricks they used:

It features: * 4-point active air-suspension ( lowers as with Ford Probe IV/V)
----------- * full bellypan
------------ * extendable spoilers ( both ends )
------------ * power-assisted sliding doors
------------ * drive-by-wire
------------ * movable front 1/2-skirts
------------ * rear 1/2-skirts
------------ * Cd 0.23
------------ * 1,800-lb design curb weight
------------ * FWD
------------ * 68 bhp
------------ * 3-cyl IL


My big W8 Passat has a quoted CD of somethign like 0.26 and I know that it's not an uncommon of particularly aero car. Didn't the 1st gen Insight reach 0.19?

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by vwdevotee

I find it so odd that these cars only managed to get 0.23 with all the aero tricks they used:

It features: * 4-point active air-suspension ( lowers as with Ford Probe IV/V)
----------- * full bellypan
------------ * extendable spoilers ( both ends )
------------ * power-assisted sliding doors
------------ * drive-by-wire
------------ * movable front 1/2-skirts
------------ * rear 1/2-skirts
------------ * Cd 0.23
------------ * 1,800-lb design curb weight
------------ * FWD
------------ * 68 bhp
------------ * 3-cyl IL


My big W8 Passat has a quoted CD of somethign like 0.26 and I know that it's not an uncommon of particularly aero car. Didn't the 1st gen Insight reach 0.19?

I believe that Honda credited the 1st-gen Insight with Cd 0.25.If that is from the JARI wind tunnel,then the car might show a more conservative Cd in a different tunnel.