Shield the tires - will it help?

[NeilBlanchard]

I think that a tire strake can help, but it would be better if it had a smoother front i.e. a long panel that angled from near the front of the car back to join with the piece you are showing. The underside could begin to push the air down and around the face of the tires, too.

[AeroModder]

Those look like they'd be forcing the air pretty far to the sides and creating a lot of high pressure in front of them. While blocking the tires is beneficial, you might want to make those longer and at a softer angle, preferably starting from near the front of your bumper.

Though on the Corvette C6 ZO6, there are wheelwell extensions that are completely perpendicular to the car's surface, as well as a soft, rounded exit for air. There's one at a local dealership here, and I'll see if I can take some pictures of it sometime. For now, here's these:

http://www.bryandickey.com/old/image...p-1280x960.jpg

http://www.theautochannel.com/news/2...27178.1-lg.jpg

You can see the flat deflector in the front in that picture, and the wheelwell inside is curved to meet the side behind the front tire.

http://www.z06vette.com/gallery/imag...1_Image006.jpg

It also looks like they use a hard edge behind the rear tires:

http://www.cargurus.com/images/2007/...pic-31863.jpeg

The Corvette is able to get 22 highway MPG because of it's very low drag.

[Deezler]

Thanks aeromodder! That is quite interesting. GM must have found that shielding the tires was better than not. But the width of their piece of quite small. I wonder if "tripping" the air flow over that hard edge helps make a curtain of air down the side of the vehicle.

I'm sure my plan would work out better if I bring the front piece out way forward on the bumper... but that is a lot more material, and more difficult to cut & shape. Hmmm....

[COcyclist]

Deezler, have you looked at what Tasdouille has done to his Mk III Jetta for his 79 mpg mileage run? He shielded the tires much lower. I like the Corvette style flap. Wiki Gurney flap and see what a little lip did for a rear spoiler wing.

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...15-a-4805.html

[modmonster]

my car (peugeot 106) has these as stock, but that looks too steap. blend it into the body more.

[Raphael Travethen]

I believe the best way to shiled you tire is not a tool install on the outside, but instead on the inside of your wheels. For protection of wheels and tires the best way is definitely the FLATS OVER System. It is made of rubber so it does not transfer impact from the contact of the floor to the wheels in case of bumps and flat tires.
It is also efficient against fire arms. I saw it on a test in Italy and got very impressed. They drove something like 100Km with a flat tire, than shot the tire, then the tire came off after some 50Km flat and shot at and still the car maintained perfect driving conditions. I just got one for my car and some for my company’s cars as well. Easy to install and uninstall to transfer to other wheel of the same size. Any mechanics can do it following the manual. Highly recommended. I found them at Google at first.
It might sort your problem with no difference in your car appearance.

[darraughbj]

Originally Posted by Raphael Travethen

I believe the best way to shiled you tire is not a tool install on the outside, but instead on the inside of your wheels. For protection of wheels and tires the best way is definitely the FLATS OVER System. It is made of rubber so it does not transfer impact from the contact of the floor to the wheels in case of bumps and flat tires.
It is also efficient against fire arms. I saw it on a test in Italy and got very impressed. They drove something like 100Km with a flat tire, than shot the tire, then the tire came off after some 50Km flat and shot at and still the car maintained perfect driving conditions. I just got one for my car and some for my company’s cars as well. Easy to install and uninstall to transfer to other wheel of the same size. Any mechanics can do it following the manual. Highly recommended. I found them at Google at first.
It might sort your problem with no difference in your car appearance.

Sure looks like spam to me.

[Rokeby]

Spam? Yes. Triggered probably by "shield the tires."

Its an anti-car jack, abduction device to allow driving off when the tires are
shot out. A big, fat rubber donut that installs on the rim, inside the tire...
Strangely, it reminded me of the US Pres being denied a hybrid vehicle by his
security forces.

Looking to find any possible connection with the topic of the thread, any
contribution to better MPGs would be limited. It would add flywheel effect,
and might help somewhat at maintaining steady velocity. But would hurt
greatly in town where frequent accelerations are called for.

Flats Over

[darraughbj]

Yea, I checked it out too and it's a pretty neat product (looks like a huge pain to install). But it would really add to rotating mass and - thinking about bicycles - that would consume a bit more power on acceleration. Could help out any sort of electric regenerative brakes I imagine, but I have no idea how those really work.

[orange4boy]

OffT: In the fuel shortages that will turn the world into a Mad Max sequel, those puppies would come in very handy. You can bet there will be no shortage of bullets.

OT: Shield the tires!! They are #2 behind the behind of your car in drag production.