Life’s a drag. If you’re an automobile, the faster you go, the more of a drag it becomes. As early as the 1920′s, engineers realized that a car’s shape was no less important than an airplane’s; it determined the the automobile’s aerodynamic efficiency, which has a major impact on its fuel efficiency. (Cars may not have been born from jets, but the same rules apply.) For mass motoring, decades of cheap gas made automotive aerodynamics more of an optional art class than a required science. Now, with government regulators demanding maximum fuel efficiency, aerodynamics are back in play, headed for the mainstream. Active aerodynamics are taking center stage.
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Posts By: David Moreira
One of the main improvements in future cars and associated global platforms: weight reduction. Thanks to new, stricter emissions and fuel consumption regulations, this trend is well underway. New cars have already stopped gaining weight. And manufacturers are redoubling their vehicular dieting efforts. Their progress has been predictably rapid. for example, future generations of the European compact class (e.g. Focus III, Golf VII) should shed We more than 100kg, using several strategies…
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AFX - How about a hatchback version that was so rare hardly anyone ever saw one out in the real world ?. I remember many years ago flipping through one...
thelaine - Yeah Germany, where are your crackheads?
mr_muttonchops - It could be a generational thing. Many people that grew up with early hatches in the US may still associate them with cars like the...
28-Cars-Later - I sincerely hope what you heard is not true.
AFX - Apparently Germany never had drive-in movie theaters. Not only that, but you can also put 6×9″ speakers in the parcel shelf, and hide...
28-Cars-Later - For shame.
mr_muttonchops - On the subject of hatches and trunks, has anyone ever seen hatchbacks that LOOK like trunks? I don’t mean a fastback ala some...
28-Cars-Later - Agreed.
AFX - “In 1973, at the at that time not so tender age of 24, I switched from journalism to advertising. Volkswagen and I fell in love with each...
brbroberts - last time I was in Europe (Spain and Portugal, last week) AdBlue was .64 Euro per liter and it’s sold from the gas pumps....