Wheel well aero and where the wheel face sits - WARNING BRICK SHAPED CAR INSIDE

[ProDarwin]

Originally Posted by Sven7

The car's body curves in so much that I don't think any wheel fitment is really going to benefit you (unless you ran 20* positive camber with 18" flat face wheels). You'll always have the tires poking out the bottom and tucking in up top.

What if you made flares to take out the side angle of the body. Flares like these: Charge Speed Universal Charge Speed Universal Bubble Over Fender Set - CSAOF02 Might require some custom fab, or you may be able to find large enough ones that you could trim the top down to almost nothing, but leave them full-depth at the bottom of the arch.

Here is the Saturn I sold a few months back, with 9" wheels under it:




Sketched in flare front profile:


This would give you smooth flow across the sides (vs the massive dip inward stock). Feasible?

[TurnpikeCruiser]

Originally Posted by johnunit

Looking at their site, it's 140 unpainted. So shipping and professional painting... somewhere under 400? Not worth it in the near future but maybe worth a try later. Once they're prepped and primed it's not like I couldn't re-sell them. If I was feeling really adventurous maybe I could see about extending them down further.

If you spray bomb 'em you may be able to get them close. And much cheaper than professional. Being a dark blue like that, painting them black wouldn't stick out too much either.

And on the spoiler, how about a wrap around idea like the Saleen (or Roush? Can't remember...) Mustangs use? Extend the trunk lip backwards and wrap it around the sides of the body.

[johnunit]

Originally Posted by ProDarwin

What if you made flares to take out the side angle of the body. Flares like these: Charge Speed Universal Charge Speed Universal Bubble Over Fender Set - CSAOF02 Might require some custom fab, or you may be able to find large enough ones that you could trim the top down to almost nothing, but leave them full-depth at the bottom of the arch.

Here is the Saturn I sold a few months back, with 9" wheels under it:

Sketched in flare front profile:


This would give you smooth flow across the sides (vs the massive dip inward stock). Feasible?

It's an interesting idea, but with the extremely short distance from the rear door to the rear wheel opening, I struggle to imagine a way of doing it that would be aesthetically pleasing. At least not while being worthwhile aerodynamically. Maybe on the front, but I'm not sure.

Unfortunately, with appearance a concern and highway miles it's expected to travel relatively minimal, the "worth it" threshold is unusually tight.

[johnunit]

Originally Posted by TurnpikeCruiser

If you spray bomb 'em you may be able to get them close. And much cheaper than professional. Being a dark blue like that, painting them black wouldn't stick out too much either.

And on the spoiler, how about a wrap around idea like the Saleen (or Roush? Can't remember...) Mustangs use? Extend the trunk lip backwards and wrap it around the sides of the body.

Perhaps, but that's a LOT of fab work. Realistically, it'll be at least a couple years before doing it myself or having it done is within my skillset or budget.

[aerohead]

How much of your driving will be at 100 km/h vs slugging it out stoplight to stoplight?

[Sven7]

Originally Posted by ProDarwin

What if you made flares to take out the side angle of the body.
This would give you smooth flow across the sides (vs the massive dip inward stock). Feasible?

Toyota did this in the 80's, perhaps best seen on the W11 MR2. You'd probably have to have pretty snug tire fitment and Bonneville style wheel covers to make any difference though. My suggestion is don't bother. It's going to eat up your time and money while only returning <1mpg. If this were a land speed racer you would want to look into it.

[johnunit]

Originally Posted by aerohead

How much of your driving will be at 100 km/h vs slugging it out stoplight to stoplight?

by distance, maybe 2/3 city. The thing is when I do hit the highway it tends to be for 2+ hour trips (to Belleville, Peterborough, or London for Ontario folks), at sustained speeds of 95kmh+ (flow of traffic). So I'm in the odd situation where I could spend 2 months without aero really mattering and then it could save me 20 bucks in a day.

[cfg83]

ProDarwin -

Originally Posted by ProDarwin

...

Sketched in flare front profile:


This would give you smooth flow across the sides (vs the massive dip inward stock). Feasible?

Reminds me of the 1981 Trans-Am :



aerohead said that there was a good Trans-Am design, but I don't think it was this one. I *think* it was the next-gen Trans-Am :



CarloSW2

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by johnunit

by distance, maybe 2/3 city. The thing is when I do hit the highway it tends to be for 2+ hour trips (to Belleville, Peterborough, or London for Ontario folks), at sustained speeds of 95kmh+ (flow of traffic). So I'm in the odd situation where I could spend 2 months without aero really mattering and then it could save me 20 bucks in a day.

Man o man,it's hard to think of things that will show at the pump,but won't slam the OEM look.
A wrap-around front air dam would help point the air down the sides.Then all the Trans Am Firebird mods would make a difference.
The higher performance cars will add a rear deck spoiler which allows no more than a 14-17 degree angle from the top rear edge of the roof,down to the top of the spoiler.And the spoiler can't be steeper than 30 degrees up from horizontal without making the drag go back up.
If you have a clutch fan,then above 64 km/h she'll be free-wheeling anyway,so there's no real savings with an electric on the highway.
All the bellypan you could stomach would be great! Then that section under the trunk,to the bumper could be cleaned up.You could even do a diffuser.
You might compare the actual size of the radiator with the grille opening.If there's 'fat' to trim there,you could block some of that from behind where it won't show.If you can make an airtight duct to the radiator( like NASCAR does) the front opening can be even smaller.
If don't know if you can shop for any lower rolling resistance for the size tires you're looking for,but if so,it would pay dividends.

[johnunit]

Interesting thoughts. I may look into the grille block from the back.

Electric fan will happen at some point for general economy and horsepower reasons. I do have a clutch fan so like you said it's not a big priority.

Looking underneath, there's a nice ridge created by the seam of the gas tank (it's mounted vertically right behind the rear axle) that could be the front of a rear bellypan, ending at the rear bumper.

It's 6 (?) screws to yank the grill so experimenting with that would be relatively easy.


There is a factory (for Police models) front air dam that I'm going to find or try to duplicate. Roughly 3 inches vertically and about the width of the grill. It mounts on the radiator core support (about halfway to the front of the wheelwell) but I'm thinking mounting it from the bumper and making it wider would be more effective. Maybe even something like the Home Depot garden border stuff the full width and profile (ie wrapping around) of the bumper.