Which mass produced car is closest to a teardrop shape ?

[KamperBob]

Originally Posted by d0sitmatr

the chevette was a surprisingly good economic car though, most especially for its time. I had a friend who didnt drive it very conservatively and still managed to pull high 30's hwy
and the prizm/toyo is rated for 37 hwy so 40 is way easy to achieve. I dont know enough about spectra's so I cant really say anything about those.

I think your right though, in most respects, any car that is rated for the mid 30's is pretty easy to achieve 40mpg with a few simple changes with the wheel nut mod alone

Yeah, I forgot to mention that 86 Chevette was a slushbox (AT). It had TC lock clutch which helped highway but city mileage wasn't good at all. Mid to upper twenties was the norm. In hindsight the hatch glass seems to steep to support attached flow. All these aero handicaps is why I thought it a particularly noteworthy data point.

The Spectra is Kia. Basically, a Korean knock off of the Corolla. It replaced after my Prizm when totalled in 03. Specs were similar overall. The drive train wasn't as good. 16v 1.8L but gappy power band. Lower gearing so cruising 60 mph in 5th meant 3k rpm! Good for pulling grades with cruise engaged but not ideal for economy. Still, keep the speed down (er, steering nut tight) and it was easy on the wallet. A good value but if I did it over I'd pay extra for Corolla (Chevy dropped Prizm - sigh).

Cheers
KB

[SlideWRX]

Originally Posted by d0sitmatr

sorry for awakening an old thread, but I was kind of surprised no one mentioned the 2nd gen Eagle Talon ?

Resurrecting an old thread keeps all the relevant info together. No problem.

As for the Miata & Probe not getting good mileage, it has to do with short final drive gears I think. I drove a friends 2008 Miata (current bodystyle), and the gearing for sixth gear on the highway was over 3000 rpm. Get a much taller final drive in there, and get that down to 2000 rpm and get some aeromods going! The probe is the same way, at least the 92-97. I had a 94, and the V6 was geared pretty short. Don't remember the specific numbers though.

[ChazInMT]

The 2012 Ford Fusion Hatchback will be the closest thing when it comes out.

Me Likes this one.

[d0sitmatr]

Originally Posted by SlideWRX

Resurrecting an old thread keeps all the relevant info together. No problem.

As for the Miata & Probe not getting good mileage, it has to do with short final drive gears I think. I drove a friends 2008 Miata (current bodystyle), and the gearing for sixth gear on the highway was over 3000 rpm. Get a much taller final drive in there, and get that down to 2000 rpm and get some aeromods going! The probe is the same way, at least the 92-97. I had a 94, and the V6 was geared pretty short. Don't remember the specific numbers though.

if I drove conservatively, I could pull 30mpg on my 93 mx6, which had the 2.5L v6. but I rarely drove it conservatively
there are several people on the mx6 forums who swap the stock 5th for the protege 5th, dropping hwy rm down to the 2600-2700 mark, boosting the cars mpg up to 32-33 hwy (flat surface, summer driving)

[endurance]

The 89 MX6 5 speed was a great car. 2.2L, 12 valve offered plenty of power (125ish) while being miserly on the gas for a car of its size (my experience was consistently 32-37 with moments of greatness on the roadtrip managing 40-41mpg). Unfortunately I miled mine out fast, putting on 180k miles in the first five years of ownership, selling it to a friend who drove it to 232k, at which point there were more things going wrong with it than was worth fixing. Probably used too heavy an oil for too many years and spent way too much time at redline.

[winkosmosis]

How can the Pontiac van have 0.30 Cd when according to people here only rear end aero matters?

[KamperBob]

Originally Posted by winkosmosis

How can the Pontiac van have 0.30 Cd when according to people here only rear end aero matters?

Nothing (mass produced) truly matches a teardrop of course. I've wondered for a while about nose shapes. Likely trade offs, involving style and safety not just aero, explain what auto designers obsess about. Some (few) vans fit the template better than most cars. It's not that ONLY rear aero matters. It's that in many (most?) cases rear is low fruit.

Cheers
KB

[Rokeby]

Based on body style alone, would either of these two cars qualify as teardrop shaped:

1964 Corvette?


Triumph GT6?


If not, is it because of the longish hood/bonnet and steep windshield/screen?

Probably not the MGB GT... too steep rear glass angle.

[Rokeby]

As an aside as it is not in production, the closest car design to a teardrop
may be the Mitsubishi iMiEV Sport concept car that has been kicking round
for 3 or 4 years on the auto show circuit:

Initial concept, very teardrop-like


First concept car, pretty close to initial concept:


Latest iteration, less teardrop-like; steeper front end, shorter wheel base.
Due I guess to real world considerations:


Why the teardrop shape? See http://ecomodder.com/forum/43045-post1.html

[AeroModder]

The Nissan 300ZX looks like a good candidate.





The rear window is at 13.5* and the roof-to-edge angle is a surprising 10*.