The car shown below is the UFE-II (Ultra Fuel Efficient), developed by Daihatsu (a sub-brand of Toyota), to act as a showcase for what is achievable with Toyota’s Hybrid Synergy Drive system. Unveiled at last years Tokyo Motorshow, the UFE-II achieved a remarkable 60km/litre on the Japan 10-15 mode drive cycle, which is equivalent to 140mpg (170mpg, UK)!
The drivetrain is a 660cc Atkinson cycle petrol engine mated to two electric motors and a nickel-metal hydride battery – so is likely to be a scaled down version of the system used in the Prius. The body is made of aluminum and resin, such that the entire vehicle weighs only 570 Kg. This is a remarkable achievement in itself, as the UFE-II has been designed to seat 4 adults!
Of particular interest, however, is the aerodynamic coefficient, which at 0.19 is the lowest seen on any road car since general motors EV1.
Aircraft designers and aerodynamicists have a saying “If it looks right, it’ll fly right.” To my eyes at least, for a 4-seater car, this has to be as good as it gets!
Very similar to the IMAS, in fact it is almost a copy!
However, if that is the most efficient shape, then I am sure many more cars will look like that in future too. Let's hope Honda can get the IMAS in production before any competitors steal their thunder.
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2005 Insight, UK Spec Silver 5 speed with Alpine stereo, subwoofer & speakers with iPod link, IMA C&C, Shark Fin Aerial, Garmin EcoRoute HD, Skinz sound deadened rear shelf, 'InsightCentral' number plates, 19" rear wiper, Osram nightbreaker plus bulbs
Previous owner of 1999 Japanese Silver 5sp, 2001 UK Citrus 5sp & 2000 Japanese Red CVT Honda Insight - An extraordinary car for ordinary people
It's called a Kamm tail. THe Insight has one too. Some designers found a while back that past a certain point, there wasn't much to be gained from tapering the tear-drop shape all the way back. If the shape stops abruptly, for some reason the airflow beyond the rear still stays fairly laminar, and hence drag doesn't suffer too much. Pretty handy!
It's called a Kamm tail. THe Insight has one too. Some designers found a while back that past a certain point, there wasn't much to be gained from tapering the tear-drop shape all the way back. If the shape stops abruptly, for some reason the airflow beyond the rear still stays fairly laminar, and hence drag doesn't suffer too much. Pretty handy!
"a while back".... was in the 1930s; and.. "some designers" was Wunibald Kamm
Some cars:
-Audi Quattro
-Audi 100 (5000 or 10000??) Avant
-Audi A2
-Honda CRX
-Honda Insight
.....
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".....anyone 'll tell you it's a prisoner island,
hidden in the summer for a million years,
Great Southern Land......"
About the tires (and from our experience in the Insight), those tires will have a lot of pressure in them, surely above 50 psi and will not make a comfortable ride on real world roads.
I bet braking a wheel will cost a lot. Here the price of an Insight wheel is about $700 cnd while a steel rim is about $40.
And the rear passengers are probably going to be very tight.
For size and comfort, I think that car makers can not go farther than the Insight if they want to sell and not stay a concept car.
Improvement in the drivetrain is the only way to go.
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Insight look-alike achieves 140mpg!
