Interesting Aerodynamic Cars (Mike Vetter's ETV, also Avion)

[Christ]

Depends on how you look at the world.

On one hand, you could see us as a statement that the industry is behind.

On the other, you could also understand that no matter what the car industry was doing, we'd probably still be here.

It's a given that people will find a reason to congregate on an issue, regardless of it's status in the world.

I agree that FE isn't close to what it should be, but your example just doesn't show that they had any sort of "grip" on the concept back in the day, either. Sure, they had a Cd .19, but imagine how much that vehicle had to weigh to only be able to make 125MPH on 90HP? Seems like they were focused on something other than FE when they had that aero engineering in mind.

Especially when you consider that there are 1 man vehicles out there that can do highway speeds with .5HP or less.

[Jyden]

2,200 lb

[Christ]

Originally Posted by Jyden

Tail, inward curving tailfins helped the car achieve an incredibly low Cd of 0.19, which allowed the 2,200 lb car to make 124 mph from a 1,975cc DOHC, 115-hp four-cylinder engine.

Something must have been ridiculously wrong in that report or their testing.

The only excuse for that is their inability to actually reach max speed due to other components. At Cd 0.19, and 2200 lbs, with 115HP that car should have had no problem exceeding 125MPH.

Once again - My '88 Civic had 92HP from the showroom floor, probably much less by the time I got it, and weighed ~2,000. I could do 125MPH with a Cd of something like .3

[Cd]

Originally Posted by RobertSmalls

If I were going to build a car from scratch, it would be in the style of the Daihatsu UFE III (2005 Concept):



203mpg, 968lb curb weight in concept car form, Cd = 0.17, tiny frontal area. It's a 660cc gas/electric hybrid.

Daihatsu UFE-III Concept - Automobile Magazine

The closer to production version now has a roof as well.

[Cd]

Originally Posted by NeilBlanchard

Hi,



Yes, I know -- they also changed the form quite a bit. An earlier clay model (w/o wheels IIRC) was 0.06. This model had wheels at least, and since it is so very low drag, I think it is worthwhile to study.

Here's another picture of the Antro 'Solo':

That car would be faster if driven backwards.
It sort of looks like a bar of soap from the front.

I agree with what Neil said about the clay model ( the Boxfish concept ) having that superb Cd.
The overall shape was quite different from the production version.

[Rokeby]

I tink the rear end of the UFE III is also worth a look:



Very Insight-ful. Cute little fin, too.

And what do you know, it has transparent aero wheel covers!

[NachtRitter]

Another interesting one, from BMW (see more here)

cD of 0.22, 3cyl turbodiesel plus 2 electric motors, plug-in hybrid







Still ... lots of glass and funky doors...

[Christ]

Concept vehicles are always different. That's why they're concepts. If they had the same features as every other car, nobody would find them interesting, and they wouldn't get much press.

Later, when/if they design the real car, it'll be a more conservative version, probably akin to one of the models already in the lineup for that MY. It will undoubtedly let people down, and, in some cases, will not even slightly resemble the concept vehicle of the same name.

[Piwoslaw]

Originally Posted by NachtRitter

Another interesting one, from BMW (see more here)

cD of 0.22, 3cyl turbodiesel plus 2 electric motors, plug-in hybrid

Still ... lots of glass and funky doors...

Hmmm, maybe that BMW should go in the Spaceship thread.

[NachtRitter]

Originally Posted by Piwoslaw

Hmmm, maybe that BMW should go in the Spaceship thread.

... the BMW should go in the Spaceship thread, rather than in the same thread as the ETV ("Extra Terrestial Vehicle") ??

I thought it was interesting aerodynamically... especially the bizarre tail light treatment...