Stepped shape for flow attachment.

[jack29]

Originally Posted by AndrzejM

Sciroccos are great cars, I've owned four of those MK1 from '78 and the second one from the same year, then MK2 GTi from 81, and GT from '82. Then I had a Corrado G60 '89 which I converted to diesel

Good luck with your car. Pity you barely can see them on the streets.

Hey thanks,yeah they are fun little cars ,I keep mine mostly for sentimental reasons.My daily is a 2002 Seat Toledo tdi,great mileage,low CdA , very boring compared to the scirocco

[jack29]

Originally Posted by aerohead

I took Hucho's data and drew the lowest drag roof slope,then superimposed the 'Aerodynamic Streamlining Template' on top of that and found a fairly good fit.
If you were doing the backward-facing step louvers you might push its contour up to the 'Template' and have confidence that it would come in near the drag mimimum.

Thank you for your answer.

One thing thats bodering me is the fact that traditional louvers don't seal against the glass so wouldn't there be air circulation around each louver fin ? and would that negate any aero advantage ?
I have no idea... is this one of those things that i will have to try and see ...?

[KamperBob]

When I added solar to my RV a tilt mechanism was used. It lays flat going down the road to minimze drag (bugs, etc). Dashboard meters shows it functions on the road. For optimum charging when stopped I park for azimuth and tilt the panel for elevation. For hybrid car use I expect the logistic would be similar in many ways. (Moderators, should this tangent be a separate thread?)

Originally Posted by Xist

There kind of seems to be a debate on here whether solar panels are worth the additional weight on a car. I have seen some members do it and others say that it is a waste. This guy added them to his Prius and insists they help: Green Car Congress: Solar-Power-Augmented Prius Takes the Grid Out of Plug-in

On a house, you would want them angled to be at 90° with the sun, but on a car, I would think that you would want them to be flat, and one of the comments that I have read is that there is very little usable space on a car.

Well, if you need a flat area, wouldn't louvres provide that?

If I bought solar panels, I would put them on my house, and then park my car in the garage.

[Xist]

Originally Posted by KamperBob

When I added solar to my RV a tilt mechanism was used. It lays flat going down the road to minimze drag (bugs, etc). Dashboard meters shows it functions on the road. For optimum charging when stopped I park for azimuth and tilt the panel for elevation. For hybrid car use I expect the logistic would be similar in many ways. (Moderators, should this tangent be a separate thread?)

Heh. Just make a thread entitled "Everything that Xist ever posted that was off-topic."

That is a cool setup!

[RedDevil]

Another attempt on the stepped shape. Not sure whether this helps FE.
Maybe not

[AndrzejM]

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by jack29

Thank you for your answer.

One thing thats bodering me is the fact that traditional louvers don't seal against the glass so wouldn't there be air circulation around each louver fin ? and would that negate any aero advantage ?
I have no idea... is this one of those things that i will have to try and see ...?

Even on the clearest day,rock dust is raining down from the sky from micro-meteors burning up in the atmosphere.
If the louvers actually rested against the backlight,not only would you have abrasion from the louver,as it deflected vertically during driving,you'd also have the abrasive action of the dust etching away at the glass.
I suspect that the louvers are intentionally spaced away so as not to receive angry letters from purchasers,if not a class-action lawsuit for damages caused by the product.
You are correct in thinking that the aerodynamics would be compromised with all the circulation,but for it's simple construction,the louvers add some aero benefit as well a reducing solar gain,reducing cabin temps and lowering air conditioning load and help keep prying eyes off the contents of the car.

[Frank Lee]

Nice headroom bump on that GrandCornBinderAm.