Aero ideas revisited, not discussed before

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Accessories and Modifications' started by Aeropri, Aug 27, 2011.

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  1. sidecar

    sidecar Member

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    found a profile too, more than an infill its the entire front
     

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    #21 sidecar, Aug 30, 2011
  2. Aeropri

    Aeropri New Member

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    Whoa, I was gone for just a couple days and this exploded to three pages already. Good ideas being tossed around.
    It doesn't matter what you do to this car as people already point and laugh anyways, and a lot of the ones I have seen on this forum actually make it look good IMO.

    I already gathered from other threads that there is no improvement to be gained on the roof, so I already crossed that off the list... sort of. I am going to put one of the shark fin antennas on, but streamline it. The cross section has a blunt trailing edge from the ones I've seen, so this can be smoothed out.

    As for the front air dam, I see what you mean. Will need to sleep on that for a bit. Probably going to start from the back of the car and work my way forward. The greatest potential for gains in economy are at the rear. As such, do you get what I mean by modifying the rear wing? This literally gives it a negative AOA, which will produce lift but not enough that it's a safety concern? I believe the downforce gains from the undertray will negate the lift issue. The theory here is that the mod. Tommy Kaira (TK) wing will help airflow extend the aft profile of the car to produce an "aerodynamic whale-tail". The diffuser would serve to extend the lower profile. The TK wings end plates are of special interest as a downward+inward curved lip could be added to them due to their wild x-wing fighter design. That may further help energize the directed airflow.

    Just to touch on the front end though. An idea I have been thinking about is to make a duct that blocks off half of the lower radiator, and allows that air to exit under the car. I think some BMW street model does this?

    Alex
     
    #22 Aeropri, Aug 30, 2011
  3. SpikeVFR

    SpikeVFR New Member

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    maybe not, but I have no reason to believe it is unecessary

     
    #23 SpikeVFR, Aug 31, 2011
  4. sidecar

    sidecar Member

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    I understand where you are coming from, while its true that the suction side has more force available than the pressure side, thats usually around 60/40, I think unloading the rear has potentially major downsides in safety and handling ie. grip cornering and braking at speed.

    If it were me (and it isnt) I would stick to what we know works, cutting air from getting under the car with a dam, side skirts and lowering the car. Add a diffuser on the rear undertray to straighten out the airflow exiting under the car that directs flow up and out. That might mean cutting into the rear bumper somewhat or obtaining/making a replacement moulding. Rear treatment is about reducing area, therefore reducing suction

    Dams themselves are tricky enough issues for street cars, this is because to be effective they need to be low to the road, but that is a hindrance to the approach angle for drains speed humps and driveways that we meet in every day driving. I guess thats one of the advantages of air adjustable suspension, if you are quick enough ;)

    Together with this, most road going fronts need to account for collision damage and not adversely injure pedestrians. This usually results in squarer fronts that aren't well disposed to pushing air just above the road to the sides of the car instead of over the top.

    That's another area with potential especially if you can leave the stock front underneath, but it probably means pushing the middle of the front further forward to get reasonable curvature on the ends.

    Im more of the opinion that its otherwise fancy design meant to look somehow pretty or different that just adds drag. Endplates just hold back tip vortices, which is twist in the airflow caused by pressure escaping from over the tips to the lower side, high to low pressure.

    dont know much about it myself so I cant offer an opinion.

    I dont want to throw a wet blanket over things, I just think it more advisable to err on the safe side.
     
    #24 sidecar, Aug 31, 2011
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