Improve aerodynamics for better mpK

[imolazhp]

Lower and add rear wheel skirts, might not be pretty (the wheel skirts) but would help with drag.

[ecoangel]

It was built to a price. CdA is actually no better than a 1990s Toyota Camry.

Lowering any car reduces effective frontal area no matter how badly designed the undertray is.

For down-force without a drag penalty then yes a flat bottom with proper diffuser is the way forward for race cars.

[ecoangel]

Nice pics Art,

Any more developments?

[electronchaser]

It was built to a price. CdA is actually no better than a 1990s Toyota Camry.

Lowering any car reduces effective frontal area no matter how badly designed the undertray is.

For down-force without a drag penalty then yes a flat bottom with proper diffuser is the way forward for race cars.

Hi ecoangel, sorry for bringing up an older thread, but I've been thinking about lowering the car on a new set of sports springs, which give about a 2cm drop up front. How much would a 20mm lowering reduce the frontal area, and thus drag. ( have one of the redesigned i3's with the new front end, 120ah ).

Many Thanks!

[Bertone]

Re-opening this topic...

I believe the front of the i3 could have been made more aerodynamic by the BMW engineers.

If you look at the area between the front headlights and "kidneys", it is not a very smooth surface...in fact air will flow between the headlight and kidney and be trapped under the frunk area producing drag.

Perhaps those "holes" could be "filled" with, for instance, polystyrene to form a smooth surface. Also the kidneys can be made more smooth "filling them up"..

The difficulty is to make a perfect fit...but polystyrene is a light and easy-to-work with-material so perhaps it is doable.

What do you think? Just a crazy idea....??

[Boxbrownie]

Re-opening this topic...

I believe the front of the i3 could have been made more aerodynamic by the BMW engineers.

If you look at the area between the front headlights and "kidneys", it is not a very smooth surface...in fact air will flow between the headlight and kidney and be trapped under the frunk area producing drag.

Perhaps those "holes" could be "filled" with, for instance, polystyrene to form a smooth surface. Also the kidneys can be made more smooth "filling them up"..

The difficulty is to make a perfect fit...but polystyrene is a light and easy-to-work with-material so perhaps it is doable.

What do you think? Just a crazy idea....??

Don’t forget to tape over all the shut lines also

[eNate]

I believe the front of the i3 could have been made more aerodynamic by the BMW engineers.

...

What do you think? Just a crazy idea....??

Careful there, or we'll be all driving Honda Insight look-alikes!

[alohart]

Careful there, or we'll be all driving Honda Insight look-alikes!

Having owned a 2000 Honda Insight for 15 wonderful years, I resemble that comment

[robthebold]

Re-opening this topic...

I believe the front of the i3 could have been made more aerodynamic by the BMW engineers.

If you look at the area between the front headlights and "kidneys", it is not a very smooth surface...in fact air will flow between the headlight and kidney and be trapped under the frunk area producing drag.

Perhaps those "holes" could be "filled" with, for instance, polystyrene to form a smooth surface. Also the kidneys can be made more smooth "filling them up"..

The difficulty is to make a perfect fit...but polystyrene is a light and easy-to-work with-material so perhaps it is doable.

What do you think? Just a crazy idea....??

Don’t forget to tape over all the shut lines also

I think caulk would be even better, combined with taking a green sharpie to the edges of the windows.

[PVEVman]

Just rip off the side mirrors and use cameras. Put the screens in the corners of your dashboard and you should have better rear view vision too, without dead zones!