Tuft Testing Smooth Wheel Covers - Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum

Tango Charlie · 03-27-2011, 03:21 PM

Tuft test #1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVpxq..._order&list=UL

cfg83 · 03-27-2011, 08:32 PM

Tango Charlie -

Great work! But I can't tell any difference.

CarloSW2

NeilBlanchard · 03-27-2011, 09:37 PM

Yeah, and it might even seem that the smooth cover is slightly worse? Maybe some partial skirts that fill the leading and top gap are in order? And/Or, a few tanks to see how the FE does?

festivaWES · 03-27-2011, 09:41 PM

i think the air coming front the front fender flare plastic is foiling your tuft testings...

gone-ot · 03-27-2011, 11:22 PM

...and, you could simultaneously do your A-B-A tests by having one side have the stock plastic wheel covers and the other side have the smooth, pizza pan cover...that way, you're basically performing BOTH tests under identical (albeit RIGHT & LEFT sided) conditions on the same road, at the same time. Just have the "chase car" move from side to side.

KITT222 · 03-28-2011, 12:57 AM

The stock fender flares might be messing it up a bit. Or they are pushing air away from the front wheel. You might see a bigger difference in the rear wheels.

And tele_man, Tango has the alloy wheels, so there is no stock plastic wheels covers.

instarx · 03-28-2011, 05:09 AM

Hmm. A lot of reasons posted as to why the smooth wheel covers here aren't really worse than the alloys for smoothing airflow, despite the clear visual indication that they are. On this car the smooth wheel covers clearly disturb the airflow more than the alloys.

The car is the car, and the tufts are the tufts. If the car has slightly flared fenders then those are the conditions of the test. Many cars have those. I find this interesting because it shows that smoothing airflow along a vehicle isn't as easy as it appears it would be - even the most accepted of mods may result in a loss and not a win.

Are the alloys a "fan blade" type that might be sucking air into the wheel? That could be a factor in why the airflow downstream of the alloy wheel is less disturbed.

JMac · 03-28-2011, 08:48 AM

I think I see more tuft movement in the 2nd video.

Isn't it possible that more air on the outside (moving the tufts) means that less air is getting trapped inside the wheel well?

JMac

Tango Charlie · 03-28-2011, 09:26 AM

I was also like,

and

I did notice, though, that with the disc installed, the tufts around the perimeter of the wheel well in the nine o'clock to two o'clock positions, were more stable. So JMac, I think you may be on to something.

OTM, I like your idea of doing both sides at once. Wish I woulda thought of it, but it took a fair amount of arm twisting to get the wife to drive with me as it was.

SentraSE-R · 03-28-2011, 11:22 AM

I agree that the second video shows more movement of the tufts. Thanks for a very interesting test.