I want to build a 100-mpg car (and I want it to look vintage)

[freebeard]

To the Utah Salt Flats Racing Association, USFRA, it would be a Streamliner.

[sgtlethargic]

Originally Posted by freebeard

To the Utah Salt Flats Racing Association, USFRA, it would be a Streamliner.

And the SCTA. But streamliner is a vehicle class and/or a general description. There are other streamliners that look more like dragsters, jets, and such. I'm wondering if that particular shape has an aerodynamics name.

[Vman455]

Originally Posted by JulianEdgar

Re the 2012 edition - save instead for the fifth edition (2016) edited by Thomas Schuetz. It's huge (over 1200 pages) and unfortunately expensive, but keep looking and it does turn up at less than the SAE new-book price.

My mistake--I had 2012 in my head for some reason! SAE's website shows 2015 for the 5th edition; interestingly, it's cheaper direct from them than on AbeBooks....

[Vman455]

Originally Posted by sgtlethargic

What's the year, make, model, and CdA of this lovely looking car?

The caption with the photo on Hucho's website identifies it as "1936 Adler Autobahn"; no drag coefficient is given. That photo is also reproduced in the book, on page 25 of the 4th edition, simply as "a car with typical 'pseudo-Jaray-back.'" The paragraph referencing that image says,

As the wool-tuft picture in Fig. 1.29 shows, the flow in the mid-plane of the slope remained attached over a long distance. However, the hopes placed in that seemingly smooth flow pattern were not fulfilled. As was discovered much later (see Section 4.4.5), two distinct longitudinal vortices were produced on both sides of the slope. These vortices induced not only a strong downwash between them keeping the flow in the car's longitudinal midsection attached, they induced also a high negative pressure on the slope and this produced very high drag.

This passage backs up JulianEdgar's empirical results of pressure-testing on the Insight I; if the flow was remaining attached only because of vortex downwash, you could expect to find high negative pressure there. IIRC from the images, with no spoiler the Insight saw a gradual pressure rise to -25 Pa from ambient at the trailing edge (please correct me if I'm misremembering).

[freebeard]

That's why Porsche chose to put the air intake for the Beetle under the back window, contra Ledwinka/Tatra who used scoops on the sides.

For a generic name — Pumpkinseed, after the Deltoid Pumpkinseed airship: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AEREON_26

[JulianEdgar]

Originally Posted by Vman455

interestingly, it's cheaper direct from them [SAE] than on AbeBooks....

Yes, but not always! I had a permanent search running on both Abe books and eBay, and ended up buying mine on eBay. Then it got lost en route, and then the seller gave me a refund, and then it turned up - so I contacted the seller and paid them back! (Too bad I am honest.)

[sgtlethargic]

Originally Posted by freebeard

You have a paid seat for Solidworks? If you had a computare at home, you could take Blender home on a thumb drive.

No. I've taken several Solidworks classes at the very local city college. I believe I have a current code to use the student version at home. The Sunswift article is good and talks about CFD with ANSYS. I wonder if Solidworks has (or has available) a suitable CFD function (I believe it does). With that I could draw and hopefully test different total car ideas to decide which direction might be best. For example:

1. AST-based
2. BOcruiser-based (solar car cruiser class)
3. Rebodied Model T (similar to the one featured here at Ecomodder, highboy, open wheel with skirts)
4. Modified '61 Ranchero
5. Modified AMC/Hudson/Nash Metroplitan
6. Modified '49-'53 Hudson (Hornet, Wasp, Pacemaker)
7. LSR (land speed racing) pumpkin seed with a bigger passenger compartment

[freebeard]

What do you think about Blender? I think the key to economical CFD is support for OpenVFD. Which Blender has. And particle systems that can create fire, smoke, water droplets, etc.

Plus all the animating, compositing and video editing you could ask for. Apparently it has intimidated me. I'm stuck at 3D modeling, but I like the node-based editors for everything.

Rebodied Model T?

I'd conserve the Ranchero/Nash/Hudson, but hey....

[sgtlethargic]

Re #138:
I'll have to look into Blender.

Something similar to this old one, with improvements.

https://www.metrompg.com/posts/model-t-stevinson.htm

[freebeard]

Blender v.2.80 and later is the best example of the power of Open Source software I can think of. It's evolving at an astonishing rate. blender.org. What have you got to lose?

That Model T is a golden oldie. Speaking of golden:

Barney Oldfield's Golden Submarine (1917)



The Golden Zepplini: