Most efficient color car

[justpassntime]

I think I was married to her once. I am still paying for sh!t. Thanks Metro now at least I know where my money was going. Your alright, I don't care what your family says. Man do I feel better now.

[RH77]

Originally Posted by almightybmw

oh snap. Ludicrous speed engage!

Hilarious! But they really used a lot of fuel on the hyperjets

I've always liked dark cars and have paid the price for it.

As far a paint weight, I wonder how much the paint on a car weighs? Too bad it serves as rust protection.

In the never ending quest for FE, American Airlines is considering the removal of even more paint to save weight (I think all that's left is the stripe, logo and tail). On the largest aircraft, that's nearly a 300 lb. difference in just paint to lug around. Maybe we all should get a DeLorean...

In reality, I vote for a white car in the summer, and black top surfaces for Winter (hood, roof, trunk/hatch). Not sure how you would do this. Easiest would be to have 2 hoods...

RH77

[TrikeKid]

I don't know about the color itself being more efficient, but I can tell you I'll be painting my truck white when I do it. My flow through fans aren't strong enough to keep up in the heat in a black truck, so I end up with the windows down as I have no AC. Both of my dad's pickups are white, MUCH cooler after sitting out than my truck or his work truck.

[RobertSmalls]

How about a spectrally selective zinc oxide paint? White on the visible spectrum, so it doesn´t absorb much energy from sunlight, and black on the infrared spectrum, so it cools by radiation better.

I do know lots of medium duty vehicles have flat black hoods to keep the engine bay cooler.

[Bullockracing]

Originally Posted by tasdrouille

That is false.

Nope - think parasitic surface drag based on smoothness... The shiny was a reference to clean and polished.

Originally Posted by tasdrouille

That makes sense, though the improvement won't be noticeable, we're talking less than a 1% drag reduction.

The difference between decals and skins is miniscule, but removing emblems is a tried and true way to improve aerodynamics, though not related to OP. Aren't we all after that last 1% anyway?

Originally Posted by tasdrouille

Planes do not exactly travel at the same speed as we do.

Correct, but the same rules apply, we all have to pass through the same air.

[bgd73]

it is indeed the color white. for longevity I have learned a shade of earth lasts...greens and browns,sometimes blue. I guess blue depends on the clean sky above it... and of cheap guaged bodies, a touch of metallic. Amazing freaky longevities... the light ones have many long trips to remember, the white ones have always been the sippers and cool...and falling apart...baby blue metallic may be a car to seek next. I am bored...

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by SickMPGs

The Americas Cup was lost to the Aussies after they applied "Ripplets" to their hull. These triangular shaped bumbs would produce a back eddie to push the boat forward. Not sure if it would work on a car

There's a fellow,I believe,involved with the US Navy' dolphin research of the early 1960s.He developed"Laminflo",which was applied to torpedos,and it cut skin friction dramatically.I believe the current Olympic swimmers are wearing suits derived from this technology.If yo notice the underwater video from Beijing,you'll notice that the fabric is not "wet".---------------------------------- For road going motor vehicles,they cannot benefit from such technology,as the Reynold's Number effects just aren't there for the scale of the vehicles and speeds they drive at.A dead end for ecomodders! Too bad!

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by Bullockracing

Correct, but the same rules apply, we all have to pass through the same air.

Actually, the rules do change as speed increases, as aerohead mentioned.