what are these?

GeorgeC

GeorgeC

Administrator
Management Council Member
Joined
Dec 5, 2010
Messages
5,502
Display Name
Display name:
GeorgeC
I have been noticing more and more aerodynamic doohickeys on cars.

Does the item circled in green serve a purpose or is it just styling?
 

Attachments

  • resize-image.jpg
    resize-image.jpg
    171.8 KB · Views: 259
cars do not move fast enough to see any aerodynamic efficiency gain.....it's a stylish do-hickey.
 
Just for styling. On high end sports cars, those are usually open to the undercarriage and are sometimes part of brake cooling ducts and/or rear diffusers which aid in keeping the car planted on the ground to aid in traction. On most consumer vehicles, it's nothing more than an accent piece with zero function.
 
is there an exhaust pipe hidden in there?
 
eman1200 said:
is there an exhaust pipe hidden in there?
Click to expand...

Nope, it's a solid plastic insert/overlay, usually with a mesh or honeycomb pattern molded into it. Exhaust pipe comes out under the rear bumper as per most vehicles.
 
Sooner is right. Most mainstream cars won't have the time or money to engineer a trim piece for function. The Fit actually wouldn't be a terrible looking car if they hadn't put that extra window in front of the side mirrors.
 
My guess is that just styling. I work for a supplier to the auto industry. We manufacture a lot of plastic parts for them. Most of what I have seen for aerodynamic efficiency has been in under body panels to reduce drag and improve fuel efficiency.
 
Short answer: for style.
Longer answer: for retarded style that shows how stupid people are to want an inop piece of equipment that is supposed to look like it is operational.

Wife has a Fit. The old base model. No frills, no fake vents, no fake gfx, no fake hood scoops, snorkels or ram air intakes. And it drives and functions. Go figure. :) The dealer was very unhappy that I didn't want to "sports package". Because when I looked up their definition, it used the words "appearance package". *goofy*

Ask me how many idiots glue shark fins on their hoods and front fenders to make the car "appear" faster. I could go deeper into the whole ricer dumbass culture where they weigh the car down with useless inop bolt-ons and stickers. Catch my drift? Tokyo drift? Gotta love retards. Where would the economy be without them? :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
 
BigBadLou said:
Ask me how many idiots glue shark fins on their hoods and front fenders to make the car "appear" faster. I could go deeper into the whole ricer dumbass culture where they weigh the car down with useless inop bolt-ons and stickers. Catch my drift? Tokyo drift? Gotta love retards. Where would the economy be without them? :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
Click to expand...

How about those tow hooks? If you have one, you have to be fast, right? :rofl:
 
SoonerAviator said:
Just for styling. On high end sports cars, those are usually open to the undercarriage and are sometimes part of brake cooling ducts and/or rear diffusers which aid in keeping the car planted on the ground to aid in traction. On most consumer vehicles, it's nothing more than an accent piece with zero function.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I imagined some kind of brake cooling, just not on a Fit.

I've seen diffusers on sports cars.

SUVs/hatchbacks/wagons all seem to have spoilers but I think those legitimately reduce drag.
 
Checkout_my_Six said:
cars do not move fast enough to see any aerodynamic efficiency gain.....it's a stylish do-hickey.
Click to expand...

I can't tell if you are speaking only for this car and that fake vent or for cars in general, but I would bet my hat a Prius drive train in a Ford Fiesta (drag coefficient of .32) would get worse mileage than the Prius (.25) at 70 mph.

GeorgeC said:
Yeah, I imagined some kind of brake cooling, just not on a Fit.

I've seen diffusers on sports cars.

SUVs/hatchbacks/wagons all seem to have spoilers but I think those legitimately reduce drag.
Click to expand...

If this was an actual vent, it would be somewhat dual purpose. Wheel wells are high pressure areas, car manufactures put vents after them to help evacuate pressure, increasing down force. This also helps move air through the wheels and across the rotors/calipers/etc which promotes cooling.
 
My Avalanche had a carefully placed hole in that position, it was the step so you could climb up on the tailgate (or into the bed if you like).
 
The purpose of all those extra nooks, crannies, and doohickeys is to catch more bugs and mud. :mad:
 
Austingt350 said:
I can't tell if you are speaking only for this car and that fake vent or for cars in general, but I would bet my hat a Prius drive train in a Ford Fiesta (drag coefficient of .32) would get worse mileage than the Prius (.25) at 70 mph.



If this was an actual vent, it would be somewhat dual purpose. Wheel wells are high pressure areas, car manufactures put vents after them to help evacuate pressure, increasing down force. This also helps move air through the wheels and across the rotors/calipers/etc which promotes cooling.
Click to expand...

you do realize that the majority of your auto drag is from the undercarriage? Compare the undercarriages and let me know which is more aerodynamic.
 
Checkout_my_Six said:
you do realize that the majority of your auto drag is from the undercarriage? Compare the undercarriages and let me know which is more aerodynamic.
Click to expand...

The majority isn't from under the car, if that was the case Ford and Chevy could still build cars that look like they did in the 60's but unfortunately those designs don't move air very well (coefficient of .50 or so). I don't care how many under body panels/air dams you put on them, too much air moves over the top of the car and around the sides.

Next time you are in a car with a sunroof moving at 60 mph or so, stick your hand out the roof and face it towards the front. Next, turn it 90 degrees, which one requires more effort?
 
Could be either. A lot of time is spend with CFD work and in wind tunnels working on drag, wind noise, etc. Most auto companies are prepared to spend significant money to improve fuel economy by just a couple percent. But at the same time, people buy style. The angle under the rear of the car (diffuser) is a big contributor to drag - that can result in wars between the styling and aero guys. (I was involved in some of the wind tunnel work that went into the design and quantification of the fuel economy benefit of shutters behind the grill.)
 
I always figured since the EPA tests mileage on a dyno "adjusted" for the drag coefficient supplied by the manufacturer, they stick on all the gee-gaws to justify low drag reports. :D

Or they just pull a Volkwagen and kluge the software. ;)

Cheers
 
GeorgeC said:
Yeah, I imagined some kind of brake cooling, just not on a Fit.

I've seen diffusers on sports cars.

SUVs/hatchbacks/wagons all seem to have spoilers but I think those legitimately reduce drag.
Click to expand...

Are you speaking of spoilers in the traditional sense, like a fin or wing on the trunk? If so, they provide next to zero real downforce (increased aero drag). They are almost purely for cosmetics than actual function. Porsches, Corvettes, etc do have some functional spoilers, but they are usually only useful above 50mph or more.
 
GeorgeC said:
Yeah, I imagined some kind of brake cooling, just not on a Fit.
Click to expand...
A clueless chick once asked me about the brake vents on my sports car. She called the V8 Z28 a "ricer" (*shudder*) because of these "fake holes". I showed her that they were not fake, they actually provide induction cooling to brakes. Chicks. *rolleyes* :D

flyingron said:
My Avalanche had a carefully placed hole in that position, it was the step so you could climb up on the tailgate (or into the bed if you like).
Click to expand...
Those are very cool. Truck owners that don't have them are secretly jealous. (so am I ;) )

ETres said:
The purpose of all those extra nooks, crannies, and doohickeys is to catch more bugs and mud. :mad:
Click to expand...
No idea what the wife would say if I took her Fit mudding and brought it back full of mud in all nooks, crannies and doohickeys. Well, I do have an idea. But I don't think it would be wise to post such profanity here. LOL Though I am sure she would at least politely point out that it's what my 4WD F350 is for. :D

Austingt350 said:
If this was an actual vent, it would be somewhat dual purpose.
Click to expand...
I agree. Too bad that the idiots just put a piece of plastic in there. If they could get the heat off the brakes and decrease the negative pressure behind the hatch, it would definitely increase .... wait, we're talking about toy cars here. Never mind, I'll STFU now. :D
 
SoonerAviator said:
Are you speaking of spoilers in the traditional sense, like a fin or wing on the trunk? If so, they provide next to zero real downforce (increased aero drag). They are almost purely for cosmetics than actual function. Porsches, Corvettes, etc do have some functional spoilers, but they are usually only useful above 50mph or more.
Click to expand...

Agreed.
Put a wing on an F1 and you can drive it on the ceiling of a tunnel once you exceed 100mph.
Put a wing on a 4-door Civic and you are just a douche-bag retard ricer. :goofy:
 
Never been a fan of cars like that.

Vette
Wrangler
R1
Couple subies
Etc

All function, no fluff
 
I can't believe you guys are discussing the Cd of a Honda Fit.....what a joke. :lol:
 
Checkout_my_Six said:
I can't believe you guys are discussing the Cd of a Honda Fit.....what a joke. :lol:
Click to expand...

I'd bet good money you'd have loads more fun taking a Fit around a track than driving a Gallardo around town. So, as a matter of fact, those values do make a difference in how the car drives to people who know how to drive them.
 
rachelk.tailwinds said:
I'd bet good money you'd have loads more fun taking a Fit around a track than driving a Gallardo around town. So, as a matter of fact, those values do make a difference in how the car drives to people who know how to drive them.
Click to expand...

Eh, probably not, they do make a difference to gas mileage though.
 
PaulS said:
Eh, probably not, they do make a difference to gas mileage though.
Click to expand...

You don't think a professional driver, let's say, a Honda test driver, would be able to feel the difference in drag on a car?
 
PaulS said:
rachelk.tailwinds said:
I'd bet good money you'd have loads more fun taking a Fit around a track than driving a Gallardo around town. So, as a matter of fact, those values do make a difference in how the car drives to people who know how to drive them.
Click to expand...
Eh, probably not, they do make a difference to gas mileage though.
Click to expand...
Bring them both to the track and watch the Fit get worse mileage than the Gallardo. Take my word for it.

rachelk.tailwinds said:
You don't think a professional driver, let's say, a Honda test driver, would be able to feel the difference in drag on a car?
Click to expand...
Are we talking Stig??
You know he's got acid for blood, right? :D
 
what's the average driving speed of a commuter car? 40-45 mph? yeah.... :lol:
 
rachelk.tailwinds said:
You don't think a professional driver, let's say, a Honda test driver, would be able to feel the difference in drag on a car?
Click to expand...

I don't think so, unless it was gross difference, like a piece of plywood sticking up on the roof. Horsepower overcomes a lot of sins.
 
SoonerAviator said:
Are you speaking of spoilers in the traditional sense, like a fin or wing on the trunk? If so, they provide next to zero real downforce (increased aero drag). They are almost purely for cosmetics than actual function. Porsches, Corvettes, etc do have some functional spoilers, but they are usually only useful above 50mph or more.
Click to expand...

Not on the trunk, on the top of the liftgate:
 

Attachments

  • ela10.jpg
    ela10.jpg
    73.8 KB · Views: 10
GeorgeC said:
Not on the trunk, on the top of the liftgate:
Click to expand...
Similar to the lip on the tailgate of a pickup - control the vortex behind the vehicle and reduce drag. Auto makers fight for tenths of a mile per gallon improvement in the sticker values.
 
Some spoilers help with aerodynamics by NOT having the airflow try to follow down the back side of the car (especially handy in things that have rather abrupt tails). However, more often than not, they're about as functional as tail fins were.
 
Checkout_my_Six said:
cars do not move fast enough to see any aerodynamic efficiency gain.....it's a stylish do-hickey.
Click to expand...

Yeah, none of this stuff works either. It's all just a fad.

attachment.php
 

Attachments

  • image.jpg
    image.jpg
    13.5 KB · Views: 59
Awwww.....you mean Audi stuck this on my car for no good reason?
4bbcd1aec19fe19fe504a6229e52bcd3.jpg


Vorsprung durch Technik.
 
wrbix said:
Awwww.....you mean Audi stuck this on my car for no good reason?
4bbcd1aec19fe19fe504a6229e52bcd3.jpg


Vorsprung durch Technik.
Click to expand...

If it was on an A4, then I'd probably say yes. As I mentioned, they do usually have a function on purpose-built sports cars, so the TT may be functional, but that's not a given.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top