The *Ultimate* Aerodynamic Car? Dave Cloud's "Dolphin"

[rkcarguy]

It's not illegal to pull some rusted hulk(with title) out of the blackberries at a friends place, fab and order up every aftermarket part for it, have little if any of the original car left, and attach/license it with the original VIN. Document your build and keep all the receipts. No stolen parts, taxes paid, no problems. It's very clear in the fed's readings...although some state authorities love to morph this into "you can't do that" if you don't know better.
Safety inspection varies by state.

[jime57]

Originally Posted by skyl4rk

What is this safety inspection of which you speak?

As was stated earlier, many states have state level safety inspections. Here in Virginia, it is once per year. When the vehicle is inspected, an annual sticker is attached to the windshield and having one out of date will get you a ticket. So, there is no getting around the inspection.

As I write, I'm looking at the VA inspection form. It is mostly the obvious safety stuff, such as lights, tires, windshield, wipers, floor pan, horn, etc. But, there is no assurance that an inspector might fail relocated tail/signal lights. So, in VA, it would be wise to thoroughly check out the "limits" before undertaking any serious aeromodding. Inspectors might vary a bit, but no one is going to get way out on a limb. After all, the inspection is their way to get at the repair business, which is much more profitable.

I suppose it could be tested in court, but who wants that hassle? Besides, it has probably all been legally tested anyway.

[NachtRitter]

Dave Cloud's Dolphin is featured in Make Magazine's "Made on Earth" section this issue: http://www.make-digital.com/make (you may need to scroll to the right side if you have a relatively low resolution monitor like I do )

[Cd]

That is such an awesome car. The uncovered front wheel drives me nuts though.
So close to aerodynamic perfection, and such a simple fix too.
I'm sure Dave has his reasons for not covering it though.

[NeilBlanchard]

Smooth wheel covers would be easy. Covered front wheels would require either widening the front fenders, or working out hinged panels; which would be a lot of work.

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by NachtRitter

...Make Magazine's "Made on Earth" section this issue: http://www.make-digital.com/make

That has got to be a contender for worst-designed website I've run into. ALL the text, and images, in those stupid unreadable point-cloud fonts?

[jime57]

Originally Posted by NeilBlanchard

Smooth wheel covers would be easy. Covered front wheels would require either widening the front fenders, or working out hinged panels; which would be a lot of work.

All true.

Another option may have been to copy the Insight front fender treatment, where there is a slightly widened approach on the front and a cutaway and rounded section behind the tire, with smooth "moon like" wheels. Of course, we don't really have any technical comparrisons to see how well the various approaches would work - that I am aware of.

I am immensely curious about the Insight treatment, if anyone has anything to offer

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by jimepting

All true.

Another option may have been to copy the Insight front fender treatment, where there is a slightly widened approach on the front and a cutaway and rounded section behind the tire, with smooth "moon like" wheels. Of course, we don't really have any technical comparrisons to see how well the various approaches would work - that I am aware of.

I am immensely curious about the Insight treatment, if anyone has anything to offer

I've done the overhead gap-filler on CRX,D-100,and T-100.
The T-100 also recently has the radius behind the tire as Insight used.This goes back to Porsche in the 1970s.
From the power-steering fluid leakage and streaking down the flanks of the truck on the last trip,I would say that the air is completely hugging the sides of the T-100.
I will eventually do the parallelogram spat but until then I give the 'Insight'-type fender tech the big thumbs up.

[bheadrick]

I'm trying to wrap my brain around how all that could have been done for $3k. At $50 each, you'd spend $3k on 60 batteries alone. I'm amazed that I don't see anyone asking the question - how in the world was all this accomplished for $3k - unless that's just the body mods alone.

I'd like to know some more details on the mods that were done to this vehicle and how they were accomplished for the stated amount. I might not want to go quite as extreme as this, but I'd certainly like to employ some of the methods here.

[bheadrick]

Originally Posted by NeilBlanchard

My son tells me that there is a pre-alpha version of a CFD program related to a Half Life 2 plugin, called Garry's Mod is being developed. The key thing that makes this very interesting, is that it will be able to convert SketchUp models and run them in a 3D wind tunnel!

I'm hoping to hear more about the development of this program, and maybe ask to be a beta tester! If anybody else has heard about this, or knows more about it -- I'm all ears!

I've used gary's mod, but never knew about the wind-tunnel thing or the sketchup thing. I'm totally playing around with that this weekend!