Vortex generators
 

The guy in this video below blabs on quite a bit but at the 6min 30 sec mark he starts showing his experiments. I was quite intrigued by what exactly was happening. then on a video down the line the show vortex generators on an airplane wing reducing the stall speed of the plane from 60 knots to 45 knots. definitely some serious aerodynamics going on with those little flaps. my intention is to incorporate these to improve airflow around the side of my car. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Whd_KnsLKE

A lot of nae-sayers out there but I plan on trying these myself. Invented for planes yes (even improves R/C planes), but a LOT of trucking companies are using them now. I can see an advantage to a semi but I am still skeptical about a car.

? About 6:20 he's saying he dramatically decreases the drag by purposefully stalling the wing. I doesn't that mean when the VGs are not deployed? And then when he dramatically increases down force, is when the VGs are deployed, causing attached flow.(but increased drag)

check it

Airtab | Aerodynamic Fuel Savers | Welcome

Feel free to be the first ecomodders to ever get any results with VGs. Be sure to let us know how you did it.

Nay.
1st Issue- The air is already turbulent on the skin of a car, you're only making it more turbulent.

2nd Issue- The air in the first 2 inch layer of the car is only .05% of the air being moved about by your car. There is a lot of air moving 10 feet on top and to each side of your car, and for hundreds of feet behind it. A .05% change in the air movement can not create a noticeable change in the drag.

3rd Issue- There is a certain amount of drag created by the "Vortex Generation" itself. In order to make a positive difference, the newly invigorated air would somehow have to not only overcome the drag it just produced, but it would have to somehow create less drag down stream. On any modern automobile, this simply isn't going to happen. Maybe some crap box from the 70's or 80's, but other than that, you'll only be shooting a squirt gun at the Hoover Dam and expecting it to improve it's performance.

4th Issue- Cars are not airplanes, they follow vastly different aerodynamic rules. Just the same......Please explain how a reduced stall speed equates to a lower drag? It is flim flam pseudoscientific jibberish designed to baffle and confuse. In fact, to generate more lift you must by definition create more drag.....think about it.....if by making more lift and LESS drag, you'd reach a point where a 400 foot wing span on a piper cub would be the ultimate flying machine with almost zero drag and the ability to lift hundreds of tons with a 95hp motor going 450 MPH getting 50 MPGs doing it. Yeah, that makes sense.

With VG's in respect to fuel savings, you need to give it some serious skeptical analysis and then just......

http://i59.tinypic.com/e7173d.jpg

V.G.'s
 

The Mits article (found the PDF recently) detailing the V.G. test, did say .006 (6 counts) less dag & reduced lift. Different tests showed airflow hugging rear window more & made rear wing more efficient.
Doing a trailing edge design myself at moment using V.G.'s rotated to keep air from curling under so much or less energy in after-car vortex.
Enjoying the Kyle Drives videos myself. I like the scientific approach & detail he uses.
1st time poster here...Read for years. Be easy on me guys...

Like a lot of mods we do on this site, these seem like they may only work in our minds. But then again, if you put them on your car and feel like a winner, haven't you still technically won?

I have a grill block, aero side mirrors, moon discs and a stubby antenna on Ron Burgundy. Total net mpg value, who knows? Total net value in my mind, priceless!

My little mods so far, with careful driving habits mpg up 30%...worth it to me (consistant +40 average highway.

VG = diminishing returns

So, the question becomes \'are they worth the effort\'?