New Dodge Ram's forward leaning grill
http://www.pickuptrucks.com/trucks/I.../choices13.jpg
You'd think it would create more drag than a rearward sloping grill, but it apparently doesn't. Quote:
Why is this?? I can think of a few possibilities: 1) The crossbar and surround are so thick that even with a rearward-cant grill, they don't smoothly channel air up and over the hood 2) The angle could force more air through the grill. Forcing oncoming air into the engine compartment and out the bottom could create the same drag as throwing turbulent air up over the hood and windshield 3) The angle of the grill, combined with the bumper right below it, funnels air to the sides, past the curved headlights, and along the sides of the truck, with attached flow the whole way Also, I'm surprised aerodynamics were even a consideration. I'd expect the senior management to care about looks first, and fuel economy second, because presumably a 1mpg difference isn't going to influence sales that much but looking macho vs girly would. |
I would assume the over the top aero is so bad it doesn't matter if it goes underneath instead. *shrug*
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Are we gonna do the blunt front end aero thing again???
A big "bubble" gets pushed in front of vehicles. As long as flow is attached at the front/sides/top transition, it's all good. ^P.S. That's a gross oversimplification that ignores underhood airflow, but otherwise I'll stand by it. |
The eye can be decieving.. Look at all the swoopy European sports cars from the early 60's and the streamliners from the 30's with th CD of a brick. That truck probably has better aero than most of those old cars.
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i think the important thing is the curvature above and beside the grill and how open the grill really is (some grills are partly blocked and some have better internal ducting than others) also the tip of the hood isn't the most forward part of the car, the bumper is. is you fill the void between the bumper and the hood with a high pressure bubble (easiest to spot in the concept sketch) you'll get an almost round shape.
once certain things like the size of a grill is determined by either function or fashion it's all about small details... tweaking certain angles and curves |
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Seems like the high pressure bubble lunarhighway is talking about within the V profile is very different from the bubble in front of a blunt convex nose. |
Ooooh! forward leaning grill.... how.... forward of them.
Really, this just smells of aerowashing. The sketch looks all dynamic but the lines are lost lost once you get to the actual vehicle. Looks like any other truck to me. What's the comparison? Since we don't have a Cd before and after, there is no way to tell if it's better or not. All they seem to say is it's no worse than before. What is the new Cd? |
Considering the size of the grille opening, I don't think the slightly forward-leaning grille actually would make a difference, other than slightly raising the stagnation point.
Opinion, obviously, but those trucks tend to have enough room under the hood for a small child to stand in there and wrench on it... there is probably more air going through the grille opening than under it, which means that the forward leaning grille is probably a drop in the bucket compared to the grille. |
In car aerodynamics the rear end is where it's at. Any time you see a car company bragging about the front and ignoring the rear they are BS-ing you.
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Is this a post bail-out quote? |
After all my snarking, I found this: It may be an improvement over the 2008 model but the fact that one of the new models does the 1/4 mile in 14.4 seconds speaks to the main priorities: more power, lip service to efficiency. The new "improved" Ram has worse aero than the original 1994 version!
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