Valerie Got a Nose Job
 

I've been bored recently and had some materials to play with.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...e/IMG_3546.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...e/IMG_3550.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...e/IMG_3588.jpg

I had to angle it upwards a bit because I still need to get in and out of my driveway. Looks like I've barely got clearance:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...e/IMG_3570.jpg

But overall, not bad for a few hours work I think.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...e/IMG_3582.jpg

It's flared out (increasing frontal area, I know...) because I plan on having the front wheels entirely enclosed. This was the point where at full lock I've got about an inch between the cardboard and the tire.


...and a view from the top:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...0489FF87C6.jpg

Nice work. But are you going to have enough cooling? There is only a verry little opening.

The answer to that is: no. Not yet anyway. I will be fully ducting to the radiator and opening more of a hole.

Well. At least you are actually DOING SOMETHING, versus sitting in front of a computer.
So kudos for that.

No disrespect meant, but what did you intend to accomplish with this ?

The front of the car already has attached flow, and you could achieve the same results ( if this was done for aerodynamics ) by simply adding a simple grille block.

One fella here got great results with an airdam. The car is much like yours.

Cars don't need to have pointed ( or even super rounded ) noses until around 300 mph.

Aerohead, you out there ?

All that added length MIGHT be better at the rear of the vehicle ( but you never know what air is going to do )
A good example being MetroMPGs latest boat-tail, or some of the Kammbacks tested here that did nothing.

How is that birdcage attached to the rest of the car? I'd add a safety wire from the license plate to the car so you don't lose it when the whole thing falls off. Remember what happens when you stick your hand out the open window? Multiply that by the size of your addition.

Did the dents pop out when you climbed down off the hood?

Cd -- you can edit a post within five minutes and no-one will know.

The purpose was for 3 reasons:

1) to create space so that I can angle the radiator and condenser 60 degrees forward and fully duct both and exhaust through vents in the forward part of the hood. (Obviously I'm not there yet...)

2) widen the front bumper 6in so that I can enclose the front wheels entirely (obviously not there yet either... but I'm closer. :)

3) I had nothing better to do with my time and it was fun


If you're referring to the fella here that got great results with an air dam (which is featured on the front page right now) then that WAS me. And I took it off somewhat quickly because it scraped on everything.

I honestly don't expect to see any gains from this right now, but it sets up the beginning of what I plan to do for the rest of the car.

6-8 inches of length on the front is the equivalent of 1in in the rear (or so I'm told.)

Forget you heard that altogether.

Right now the metal "cage" (which is the side of a dog crate btw) is held in with zip ties. Wire is a good idea though. :)

The hood is in proper order. But honestly I wouldn't care if it weren't, I'm replacing the entire front end eventually anyway.

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...tml#post436497

You disagree?

Perhaps what W.S. said was awkwardly worded; possibly he meant you could add 6-8" of nosecone and only see the same benefit as 1" of boattail... which is darn near nothing.

You have already seen one of the difficulties of extended noses, that of hitting the ground.

Go ahead and test it, but I don't think you're going to like the added frontal area of that cone plus front wheel skirts. There are a few different movable front skirt concepts that don't add to frontal area that I think would have better chances of producing measurable gains.

I'm not expecting to really see much (if any) gain from doing JUST this. This is more setting things up for the future plans I have I suppose. Also (and I think I'm actually crazy to say this) I think I like the way it looks

How about a little of this:

http://i835.photobucket.com/albums/z...s/file-519.jpg
http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthread.php/military-theme-fun-function-22468-9.html#post325863

I am interested to see if there are any benefits to your nose. Your frontal area has not increased by much IMO. The flaring out for the fender skirts stick out like a sore thumb (no pun intended) in the front photo, but this may decrease the drag in that area. TEST IT PLEASE!

I am reminded of basjoos saying that he saw/felt a difference when he put his nose on the Aerocivic. You can't tell until you try. Good work.

I would not drive with that front end on my car.

Imagine if you hit a raccoon or a person. They would be impaled on the dog cage, not to mention the dirty looks and people taking pictures of it

Given the mass of the wire mesh, cardboard and duct tape, it would have some negligible value as a crumple zone. But hey, free racoon tail for the radio antenna.

I always imagine a spring-loaded bollard in the traffic lane. Imagination is funny that way.

AHHH, I see you found my inspiration! :)

It's hard to say without being able to ABA test it. I really feel that is the only way to be scientifically accurate about any modifications. Once I get the mounting situation a little better (not requiring the existing bumper or fenders) I WILL be ABA testing this nose. It's going to be a little while before I can do that though.

However, that being said, I'm 51.5mpg so far on this tank (which is slightly better than my last 3-tank avg), and this has been the only significant change to the car. Still driving pretty much the way I always do. I'm trying to be as impartial as I can.

Starting to work on the front skirts, I DO NOT like the way this is shaped (yet). Once I get home I'll work on it some more. This was done on the side of the road underneath an overpass.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...A2A12715FF.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...EEBE9F877B.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...2B207F91B7.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...48F0790D60.jpg

Basjoos also didn't add a square foot or more of frontal area (appx. a 5% increase) with his front end. I would expect all gains from the extended bumper to be lost in the widebody kit here. Check out the Aerocivic thread; the moving wheel skirts are more work, but there's no denying their effectiveness. You've done a lot of work; I just hope you see some gains from it! Work smart, not hard. :)

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea....html#post2112
http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...tml#post322391

My head-on with a raccoon Xmas 2012 in an unmodified Toyota Yaris did some several damage to the OEM plastic bumper, A/C evaporator and radiator. Even managed to push the front cross member under the radiator core support back a centimeter or so. No that mock up would not leave much of a raccoon at all.

As a mock up its is interesting. How is the bumper actually supported? My interests is how do you avoid the bumper hitting the windshield or another car behind you if it contacts something in the roadway? Same question with regard to the outboard wheel skirts. Is the final design to be in metal, fiberglass, or carbon fiber? All three will need a support structure, correct?

Also why not moved the radiator under the car completely? It might make the nose job more Aero efficient. and could solve some of the cone support issues.

With the front extension you will likely need faster spring rates and more aggressive than stock suspension. You don't want a road joist to cause road impact issues.

pointed
 

I suppose this is a way to validate the claims made by the big dogs.
Hucho WOULD say that the nose was already 'optimized' and 'saturated.' basjoos has claimed a benefit on AEROCIVIC.
If we consider 'elliptical' section bodies,then maybe there's some 'talking' space.They have very similar drag as a function of fineness ratio.The sticking point is the windshield area.To do glass at these angles means zero outward vision.
From Hucho's work on the 1st-gen Golf/Rabbit we can see Prandtl's lines of discontinuity at work.The air is 'avoiding' extreme acceleration,displacing around the nose long before it ever gets there,as if the nose was already 'pointy.'
http://i1271.photobucket.com/albums/...titled-6-2.jpg
The flow over the 'ideal' nose is no better,and drag no lower
http://i1271.photobucket.com/albums/...titled-7-2.jpg
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Some land speed record cars have 'pointy' noses,but they're in transonic,compressible flow,where shockwave drag must be addressed.
GM's Firebird I
http://i1271.photobucket.com/albums/...titled10_1.jpg
has no lower drag than today's FIAT Cinquento
http://i1271.photobucket.com/albums/...titled16_4.jpg

Aerohead - you must get tired of having to repeat yourself a lot huh? ;)

I think he was talking about anatomy, not cars.

Yikes!

I've read his post at least 3-4 times now in different threads.

Yeah, the more I think about all of this, the more I don't like the idea of increasing frontal area at all. It just doesn't make too much sense.

On a positive note, more people are asking me what kind of mpg I get instead of asking me what's wrong with the car. :)

Experimenting, too. I'm a fan.

I especially like the idea of gaining space to duct air to the radiator.

So, very long story short, the previously pictured version of the front was destroyed. So, I remade it. Better this time.

Materials are corrugated plastic (instead of cardboard and duct tape) and the frame is made from aluminum and some other light weight metal. This time it took me about 8hrs, but I also had to make a new fender liner on the right side. (The previous one was ripped off in a snow storm)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...e/IMG_3683.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...e/IMG_3684.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...e/IMG_3685.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...431F6AE876.jpg
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http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...94A54580CC.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...2599BFDC7B.jpg

And the current state of it:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...77DBCF0234.jpg

There is still more to do, but I'm happy with it so far. AND, it certainly isn't hurting anything... This is my current tank so far (about halfway through).

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...57D8E80F1E.jpg

Nice work. Bummer about your driveway angle.

pictures don't do that car justice looks great in person.

It's not a super big deal actually for the front. However...

I'm starting my work on the rear of the car (again) hopefully next week, and the lower diffuser angle WILL be determined by my driveway. It will probably be a steeper angle than the template shows, we'll see.

Not bad for coroplast. You've got a lot of twisting surfaces there to contend with! I think if you ever wanted to sculpt a "permanent" version in fiberglass it would look pretty cool.

I kind of like the graphics of the campaign sign better than the painted version though. :D

This is very cool. I like it. I'm jealous .

I would put the bumper core metal support back in. They do more in a crash then you think.

Yeah, actually, I can't. A while back THIS flew off a vehicle in front of me and bent all of the bumper and a little of the frame (and the condenser... and the radiator... and...) :

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...e/IMG_7941.jpg

So when I removed the metal bumper, I could not re-attach it. I've also tried to re-attach a new (not damaged) one and could not. In order to do all of that I'll need a body shop to do some work for me.

I am aware of the risks to the car (and therefore myself) by not having that added protection there.

A couple of other photos...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...5D0B1B5024.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...64DCA9ACDE.jpg

Is that a qrcode in your window?

It is :)

Love the nose Zach! And Dave is right, it looks outstanding in person.

It also has helped his mpgs, since he did get 67 going to the state park yesterday for our meet!