Reverse Trike Fender Treatment

[kach22i]

Nice solution Chazinmit, I call that the 944 solution, or at least I did in the Aero-VW thread.

drmiller100, the aft angle of the front fenders (top and sides) would be just like that of air attachment on a fastback. 10 degrees is best, 20 degrees is okay, 30 degrees incline is a bit too much.

[NeilBlanchard]

You can look at examples of aerodynamic wheel fairings already done; like the Aptera 2e or the Edison2 VLC. The Edison2 is a four wheel car, but the front wheels would be the same.

[3-Wheeler]

If I were to build a three wheeler, well then I would have front wheel pants similar to this....



And a layout similar to this....



Jim.

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by drmiller100

Hello,
I'm new to the site. I am building a reverse trike powered by a Honda Civic Engine (Dx 1500 to start with).

Cockpit is 33 inches wide, and enclosed.
Outside to Outside of front wheels will be 60 inches.

So on each side, will be 14 inches, with the front tires the outside 6 inches or so.

Leaves 8 inches by 26 inches tall "duct" on the inside of car, and outside of engine.

This is 210 square inches per side, or 410 total. which is 2.5 square feet.

I thought about bicycle fenders, but they look like crap In My Opinion. So, I want a hood over the top.

I am totally willing to leave gills at the back.

So, the question is: Am I better off to close off the front as tradition dictates, or put huge ducts through the car like this one does:

Another company to make a reverse trike? - Page 2

As early as the 1950s,Mercedes discovered that fully enclosing the wheels netted a better drag coefficient as compared with an exposed wheel 'monoposto' design,even with the increase in frontal area.
If you pull the body off the Cd 0.19 Olds AEROTECH and re-expose the wheels of the March INDYCAR underneath the drag coefficient degrades to about Cd 0.54.
I would have you consider a closed nose and gentle body plan taper exactly like GM did with Impact/EV 1.
You'll end up with enormous pods on each side but these will prevent any separation and you can use the interior space for groceries, luggage,or your mother in law.

[JasonG]

Originally Posted by aerohead

You'll end up with enormous pods on each side but these will prevent any separation and you can use the interior space for groceries, luggage,or your mother in law.

Great, scotch all over my Android.
Vote for "Post of the year"

[NeilBlanchard]

Here's an approach that I just posted in it's own thread:

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...ing-19843.html

[drmiller100]

Thank you all for the comments and thoughts.
aerotech, thank you for reminding me of the obvious - cars have tires under the car for a reason.

as for the Zing, I think there are compromises.
It seems to me the compromises trade off the following

passenger comfort vs frontal area vs drag vs looks

I think there is a market for transportation solutions.

Are we selling sizzle, or are we selling steak?

[NeilBlanchard]

As Phil (aerohead) put it, additional frontal area is more than offset by lower Cd. And the internal volume can be used for something...