Superbird aero testing

[Cd]

I threw together a bunch of graph images to the Superbird site in no particular order. Sorry to not be specific.
I tried to show something interesting, in the hopes that you aero guys would follow the link to the site.

One of my all time favorite cars would be the 71-72 B body RR/GTX .

I owned one.

I paid $450 for it, and it even ran. It was a big block car too, with a Holley 780 and got less than 8 mpg on the highway ( or so i was told, because i never actually managed to drive the thing more than a mile.
That car had more Bondo than sheet-metal though.

I spent many an hour searching for any aero information on the car ( pre internet days ) , and even tried to get in touch with some guys that tested the car.

Eventhough the 71-72 " Coke- bottle" style looks more aero, it is really bad. The main area I was told was the wheel wells, due to the flared fenders, as well as the open grille and angle of the body just below the loop bumper.
For racing, they had to add a huge chin spoiler to compensate for the lift caused by the front end.

I'm surprised to see you guys liking the design of the car, since I just thought i was partial to the car since i owned one.

Despite what i love about the look of the car, I certainly do see how some people could think of the car as 'ugly' For example this picture i posted on another thread here :

Aerohead - So you say " *As to the Cd of the 'naked' Plymouth,if it is similar to the 1969 car,then Chrysler credited it with 0.35 if I remember correctly. "

Surely you have those numbers reversed ....right ? 0.53 I could believe.
After all a 2nd generation Camaro has a Cd close to .50, and it is much, much better in regards to aero.
Or did you mean in race trim ?

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by Cd

I threw together a bunch of graph images to the Superbird site in no particular order. Sorry to not be specific.
I tried to show something interesting, in the hopes that you aero guys would follow the link to the site.

One of my all time favorite cars would be the 71-72 B body RR/GTX .

I owned one.

I paid $450 for it, and it even ran. It was a big block car too, with a Holley 780 and got less than 8 mpg on the highway ( or so i was told, because i never actually managed to drive the thing more than a mile.
That car had more Bondo than sheet-metal though.

I spent many an hour searching for any aero information on the car ( pre internet days ) , and even tried to get in touch with some guys that tested the car.

Eventhough the 71-72 " Coke- bottle" style looks more aero, it is really bad. The main area I was told was the wheel wells, due to the flared fenders, as well as the open grille and angle of the body just below the loop bumper.
For racing, they had to add a huge chin spoiler to compensate for the lift caused by the front end.

I'm surprised to see you guys liking the design of the car, since I just thought i was partial to the car since i owned one.

Despite what i love about the look of the car, I certainly do see how some people could think of the car as 'ugly' For example this picture i posted on another thread here :

Aerohead - So you say " *As to the Cd of the 'naked' Plymouth,if it is similar to the 1969 car,then Chrysler credited it with 0.35 if I remember correctly. "

Surely you have those numbers reversed ....right ? 0.53 I could believe.
After all a 2nd generation Camaro has a Cd close to .50, and it is much, much better in regards to aero.
Or did you mean in race trim ?

I looked at the paper last night and they allowed Cd 0.35 for the Charger model going into the project.
They had done wind tunnel investigations of the 1968 race Charger.It must have produced Cd 0.35.So it WAS the Race version which was bench-marked.

[Hersbird]

My link to the wind tunnel video was wrong before, but I see where Cd already posted it above

although here is another from that site that shows how bad the airgrabber is and how good the air is behind the rear window.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-t5WKkgMDk

[Cd]

Aerohead, would you be able to find out what the Cd was on the original unmodified 1971 -1972 body-style Roar Runner by looking over the data on that site ? I'm also curious about the Cd of the Superbird modification on that newer body-style.
I plan to email the guy that built the mock up car from scratch and ask him what Cd they got at A2.
I don't expect to get an answer, but I will try and see if he replies.
I've been curious what it was for over 20 years now.
There were three models tested in the study - a Superbird using modifications to the 1970 square bodystyle, and two mock ups which were never put into production : The 1971 Charger Daytona and the 1971 Superbird.

Thanks

[Cd]

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by Cd

Aerohead, would you be able to find out what the Cd was on the original unmodified 1971 -1972 body-style Roar Runner by looking over the data on that site ? I'm also curious about the Cd of the Superbird modification on that newer body-style.
I plan to email the guy that built the mock up car from scratch and ask him what Cd they got at A2.
I don't expect to get an answer, but I will try and see if he replies.
I've been curious what it was for over 20 years now.
There were three models tested in the study - a Superbird using modifications to the 1970 square bodystyle, and two mock ups which were never put into production : The 1971 Charger Daytona and the 1971 Superbird.

Thanks

I'll look tonight.

[aerohead]

I ran three iterations until I got a data fit.
The relationship to the 'RACE' version of the Plymouth Road Runner:
*It's drag is 13% higher than Daytona 500 = Cd 0.316
*Nose and airdam = delta-Cd = 0.046
*Flush windshield,A-pillar fairing,flush side glass = 8% delta-Cd
*Semi-fastback = 11% delta-Cd
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Starting at Cd 0.316 and using -0.046 for the nose/airdam improvement (published),I solved for a Cd which with an additional 8% and 11% delta-Cd increment reduction equaled Cd 0.316.
I came up with Cd 0.447
I'd sure like some other members to run the numbers and see if we get an agreement.
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Also,I did the same thing with the 1968 Dodge Charger and came up with a 'civilian' version of Cd 0.416.
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Here are some Cds of this time period:
1960 Plymouth....................... = Cd 0.48
1960 Ford Falcon................... = Cd 0.419
1963 Ford Fairlane................. = Cd 0.54
1964-1/2 Mustang notchback.. = Cd 0.475
1968 Ford Galaxie.................. = Cd 0.421-0.436
1968 Falcon Futura................ = Cd 0.416
1968 Buick Special................. = Cd 405
1968 Oldsmobile Super 88......... = Cd 0.421
1969 Dodge Wagon................ = Cd 0.587
1969 Oldsmobile Toronado....... = Cd 0.38
1969 Corvette...................... = Cd 0.39
1970 Dodge Polara Hardtop...... = Cd 0.499-.498
1970 Citroen GS.................... = 0.37-0.38
1970-1/2 Camaro................... = Cd 0.491