Manual aerodynamic enhancement?

[clett]

Has anyone considered this before? Audi were able to change the aerodynamic coefficient of the A2 from 0.28 for the standard model to 0.25 for the 3L by making some subtle bodywork alterations.

One of these was closing the gap a fair bit at the front grille for engine air intake. They could do this because the engine in the 3L was rated at lower power. Some cheap bits of plastic blanked off half the grille leading to considerably improved aerodynamics.

So how about this for a cheap/easy mod to improve highway mpgs for the Insight?

Run two bicycle brake cables through from the dashboard to the front of the vehicle. Pulling on one closes off the aperture for engine air intake in front of the radiator. Pulling the other one opens it up. This mode could be called ‘Manual Aerodynamic Enhancement’ (MAE)?

If things get too hot, then just open it up (most of the time I think Insight would be fine with half the flow-through air for cooling – it has been designed to work in the desert etc after all). If everything OK and driving at speed, close it up a bit. In future, the opening / closing could be made automatic with a simple engine coolant thermostat (‘Automatic Aerodynamic Enhancement’, AAE?).

Could be a fairly cheap/easy mod! Would be interesting to see if it improves mpgs at highway speeds.

[Calpod]

I have a cover that fits over the Bra, and it covers the lower portion of the grill, it takes about 20 seconds to put it in and about 2 seconds to pull it out, I use it in the morning, and when it's cool on the way home I just uncover 1/4 and drive it back like that, if it's over 80 degrees I take it off.

[b1shmu63]

I would LOVE to do something like this. Without a way to test the result it would be difficult to know if there is any improvement. The front wheel wells are specifically designed to allow egress of the engine compartment airflow. cutting slots in the hood might acomplish more??? Both IMAS and the new Lotus Exige use this idea. Just thinking out loud.

[Dougie]

I'm interested to hear about the cooling air exiting through the wheel wells. Do you think that is why the holes for the steering rods are so big? If this is the case, then the under-engine panel could be redesigned to be much smoother and to cover a bigger area...

[Mike Dabrowski 2000]

I would imagine that simply blocking or leaving the air inlet open would not matter much unless the block was pointed and blended into the frontal shape to redirect the air, rather than just presenting a flat blocked hole? A wall with a radiator, or a block, still is a wall.
Interesting idea. What about the camback vs complete teardrop as the solar cars have, or is that just to tuck in more solar cells?

[trunkout]

lowest drag co in any production vehicle???

I will leave the aero to those japanese scientists.....

[Guillermo]

I would not change the front end, they spend a lot of money in wind tunnel testing. But they must have compromised with the side mirrors, so removing those and replacing them with mini CCD cameras located inside the side windows and dash mounted LCD screens would improve aerodynamics for sure. The only other things worth trying is smoothing out the underbody air flow, removing the radio antenna, waxing the car and putting thin clear packing tape on all body panel gaps.

[Dougie]

Actually, waxing doesn't help: The boundary layer is so thick that it doesn't matter. There's no attempt made by the designers at maintaining laminar flow, so you can let your car get dirty and it won't change anything.

Unlike solar cars.

[flunkysama]

I played around with the idea of the closing the upper radiator opening for winter driving. Since the cover will be sloped, it'll be more aero than a flat cover for the lower grill. Although the hood release could be a problem.

Or you could weld some AL tubing to the bottom of the hood, weld some fins to the top the top and you'll have a radi-hood-ator. Then you can close off entire front of the car. (except for when you want AC.)

[b1shmu63]

Other than making a burn your fingers hot hood, that would probably work just fine. Race cars have used this idea for body panels. Forget the fins though!