New world's best Cd for a current production car: 0.24, Mercedes 2009 E-Class coupe

[gascort]

GM could learn a thing or two for the Volt here... or if they'd look at the EV1 skeleton in the closet.
I agree, clever hiding of the boattailage - that thing has a tiny rear end.

[aerohead]

Only good can come from it.M-B is so influential,even as it loses market share to competition.Should the Cd become a bragging right in marketing the car,then it can only encourage others in that market to realize it's a consideration in the consumer's mind.Everybody wins! Thanks Darin.

[cfg83]

Neil -

Originally Posted by NeilBlanchard

Hi,

That upper grill must be (mostly?) blocked off, and the only other thing that jumps out at me is the lack of a 'B' pillar. And, they probably did an excellent job on the underside of the car, too.

I did some googling and found this picture of the grill :

New Mercedes-Benz E-Class Coupe Revealed Before Geneva Debut - worldcarfans (actually this is the same URL as the OP)


The upper grill appears to be open in this picture. The lower side grill/vents, and part of the bottom grill are blocked off.

CarloSW2

.

[donee]

Hi All,

Reminds me of my 1974 Opel Manta, but with a shorter trunk.

And the shadenfreuda is really kicking in regarding the 2010 Prius Cd of .25 . Think Toyota could have done better. This proves it.

[dremd]

WOW!

Now I (Finally) want a Diesel Benz

[brucey]

Some tricks involved that none of us are seeing? The bionic fish was a total box but had a low CD (something like 0.16?)

I can't help but wonder if some of the tricks used on it are used on this model. Prototypes are just test beds for ideas.

[NeilBlanchard]

The Bionic "Boxfish: has a drag coefficient of 0.19; which is pretty darn good.

[Peter7307]

0.24 IS pretty good for a production car but it is easier to accomplish with a two door than a four door like the Prius.

That said I would like to see one in the metal and have a close look at how it all comes together.

Pete.

[lunarhighway]

The most aerodynamic variant of these coupés achieves a new world best in terms of drag coefficient: with a Cd-figure of just 0.24, this model is the world's most aerodynamically efficient series-production car.

this is quite important that

The most aerodynamic variant of these coupés

it reminds me of the opel calibra wich had a 0.26 Cd... but only for 8 valve versions with a partly blocked grill and different tires.... the 16calve versuibs differed in some aspects and had a 0.29Cd! something that's not often mentioned.

that doesn't mean this isn't quite an achievement, but i notice the front bumper on the white car and that on the gey car show lower is quite different, especially the shape of the grill and the wheel dams... so one must be a little carefull with reverse engineering

[lunarhighway]

found a few interesting shots on the interwebz....

a few spie shots from the car apparently on top of a truck, wich reveils some bits of the front and rear undertray.... nothing terribly shocking appart from evidence that it's definately there...

rear diffuser




and a bit of the front


i've slightly lightened some pics to reveal more detail

edit:

notice the "ridge" on the taped over taillights.... small spoilers to deflect the air somewhere? makes sence, if you wand taillights that curve around the car to produce that optically wider tail, but you want a clean edge to sepparate the flow

also my dad mentioned last week (as he returened from a course about the new insignia he has to work on as a mechanic) special attention had been given to the shape of various components from the suspention (i assume the ones that arent covered by panels) so these wouldn't disrupt the airflow

the flat spot on the rear suspention arm visible on the merc might be another one of these hard to notice details that help it get low drag