Lotus 7/Locost Aero Rebody

[lunarhighway]

i'd look at 30's race cars and perhaps planes for inspiration on the spoiler.
perhaps you could use this as inspiration for the back



i like how the whole back pannel is recessed and the trailing edges are all rather sharp, while still matching will with the smooth curves of the rest of the car

a gentle upswepth spoiler won't really damage the look of your car if it's blended with teh rest of the body contours.

and as far as retro style goes, a tastefull touch of chrome strips might, unlike the many modern vehicles they're applied to, look good in this car

[Bicycle Bob]

Aircraft have never used kamm-backs, and they didn't get adopted on race cars until the 60's. In the 50's and earlier, most attempts to really improve streamlining ignored problems of aerodynamic lift, and upset the handling so much that there was no net advantage.

[lunarhighway]

when i mentioned vintage aircraft i should have perhaps been more speciffic. i didn't mean they could serve as a direct source of aerodynamic inspiration, as i think the basic ingredients for a good aerodynamic car shape are well documented here and aircraft aerodynamics don't directly trancelate to cars.

but what i meant is that vintage aircraft construction , with things like brace wires, fabric covered ribs, or rivetted aluminum stressed skin,for example could produce a fairly simple construction, that was lightweight and aerodynamic, yet still looks and feels like it was build decades ago.

i wouldn't add anything "just for show" or needlesly complicate things, but... play with the idea...

[euromodder]

Originally Posted by Bicycle Bob

Aircraft have never used kamm-backs,

The Grumman S-2 Tracker had Kamm-backed engine nacelles to mount its sonobuoy launchers.

[lunarhighway]

the robin R44 helicopter also has an interesting cut of camback fuselage... but it's one of the few planes that do i guess

[JackMcCornack]

I'm easing my way to a Kamm back, currently MAX has Bonneville spoilers top and bottom. And 115 mpg at a steady 45mph.



45mph was the minimum for the X Prize roundy-round race, and it's also the usual freeway speed lower limit, so I took it as my success-or-failure benchmark speed. At 55, I'm just barely under 100 mpg and at 50 mph I'm slightly over 100 mpg.

I'm confident I could break 100 mpg at 55 if I'd...

--do my mileage tests without unnecessary weight on board (no luggage and less fuel would knock off a hundred pounds)
--close in the back and sides of the stern
--add spats to the rear fenders
--cover the front wheels with pizza pans (I lack the fender overhang I'd need for Basjoos-style front spats)
--put a fairing on the headrest/rollbar
--put a tonneau over the passenger's seat
--do my testing in warm calm weather
--put the mirrors inside the windscreens

...and probably any three of the above would tip the scales.

But I'm probably going to pursue weatherproofing before I get into much more ecomodding. It doesn't matter how good the mileage is if I don't drive it, and non-roadster season is rapidly approaching. Besides, once mileage is sniffing at triple digits, the rewards from improvements diminish. The difference between 95 mpg and 100 mpg is a gallon every couple thousand miles.

[TedV]

Jack, not sure where you are on enclosing the Locost, but after the summer heat, rain etc. on the motorcycle with 55 to 74mpg, the air conditioning of the TDi at 48mpg made me wonder if 8mpg was worth it. I didn't see it posted in this thread, I may have missed it, but have you seen the Gullwing Expose ?

[JackMcCornack]

Yes TedV, that's the Frank Costin Lotus 11 Coupe. A cabin is my spring project, but I'm hoping to avoid the (to quote from the Gullwing Expose) effect of "Even with the rear window removed, however, on a sunny day the temperature inside is phenomenal."

Biggest problem with coupefying MAX is that the highest part of the car (right over the driver's head) is only about 8" forward of the rear axle, so it'll take a lot of rear body overhang to taper the roof back at twelve degrees to a reasonable size Kamm tail.

[TedV]

A friend of mine had a cool shirt system for his R1200RT BMW. He sold the bike and now doesn't need the system. I'm trying to talk him out of it before hot weather comes and the price goes up. Sucks having to buy ice all the time tho. Racing Portable Bag System - Cool Shirt

::edit:: I mentioned the Coupe since the locost is already built and there are many already built. I still like my idea of a locost version of the VW XL1 but kind of hard for you to section and rearrange your car.

[COcyclist]

Hmmmm. Slightly out of the box but what if you had an enclosed cockpit over the driver like the Geo Metro picture that was floating around here a few years ago? You could still use a soft tonneau cover over the other half for access to storage and the occasional passenger. The boat tail area would only be as big as the driver's head and shoulders.