pizza pan - dish in or out?

[NeilBlanchard]

Hi,

For my car, it definitely is dish out. I would think that flat or convex would be the best choices, and never concave...

[Frank Lee]

It appears we have semantic problems here.

"Dish in" could mean the concave part of the pan is pointing towards vehicle centerline, and it could mean the concave part of the pan is pointing outwards, if one is referring to it when assembled to the wheel.

I think either one could be viewed as equally correct.

So I'd go with "concave" or "convex" as installed, to describe it.

IMHO, "concave" is never the way to go for wheel aero.

[Deezler]

Frank, that was my opinion, not fact. My point was that you don't want to add frontal area by adding a big outward bulge to your wheels if they already sit at or outside the fenders. I agree that the convex shape is inherently better for aero on a wheel itself.

Furthermore, we are talking about these things like they have a smooth curvature to them. But I'm willing to bet these pans just have a harsh step on the rim like every other pizza pan. So you either have a flat wheel cover that sits a 1/2" outside the rim lip or a 1/2" inside. Is the small region of turbulence caused from placing them inwards worse than the added frontal area of placing the pan convex?

[i_am_socket]

Anyone with pans care to A-B-A test?

[Istas]

My thought is, whichever gives the smoothest profile over the tire itself. I would line it up so that it's flush with the plane created by the outermost bulge of tire rubber. This would make me think that mounting it "convex" (bulging out away from the car) would be best in most situations, unless it's a very deep pizza pan, or a very narrow tire that doesn't really go past the edges of the rims. (I would try to avoid a deep pizza pan anyway)

Just my two cents, I'm by no means an aero expert.