//// Tire / Wheel aerodynamics /////

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by Andyinchville1

Hi

What I meant was if I glued a rubber disc to the sidewall of the tire, I would be worried if debris were to come in from behind the wheel (through the wheel spokes) and eventually work it's way into the gap where the glued rubber disc met the sidewall causing abrasion as it flexed...

Admittedly I don't go driving through beaches and off-roading so maybe dirt and debris would be minimal.

With the case of a solid disc touching the sidewall of the tire since the sidewall could Flex under heavy cornering I would worry a little bit about a non movable disc causing issue with the sidewall..

It's almost like running a dually Tire setup you don't want to rock with something to Lodge between the side walls because it couldn't damaged sidewalls...

Duallys on pickup truck or big truck usually have a gap between the Dual Tires to keep sidewalks from rubbing and or getting something lodged between them easily and wearing out the sidewall...

Maybe I was being overly paranoid but I really didn't want to have a blow out ecomodding. ;-)

I'm going to play curmudgeon, and devil's advocate:
1) While your idea is quite novel, there is nothing in the literature to suggest that spanning the shallow void between your membrane, and where a solid MOON-esque full wheelcover might be, would actually result in any meaningful drag reduction.
2) We'd be talking about a few 'counts' in difference.
3) You could go to great pains to accomplish the rubber wheelcover, only to see your efforts scuttled at the gas pump.
4) BMW see's the 1984 Ford Probe-IV/ 1985 Probe-V' inner wheel fender/ elastic outer wheel skirt as their future ( the future of automotive design) in addressing wheel drag. And this is with BEVs, where most braking energy is recovered in regen, reducing the heat flux/ wheel ventilation/ brake cooling requirement.
5) I would ask that you consider AeroCivic as a starting point. Basjoos handling of the front wheels pretty much succeeds, aerodynamically, as anything legacy carmakers are likely to pull off over the entire future of road vehicle aerodynamics. It's a known quantity, off-the-shelf technology money machine.