Ford fusion interesting grill

[richochet]

That's not so new - Jon Cobb's LSR Railton Mobil Special used ice cooling, instead of a "...bulky radiator", back in 1938. More recently, the JCB DieselMax has too; there are probably others. My calculations give Cobb's car a Cd of 0.162, and the DieselMax is quoted as 0.174. That is only 0.036 less than the 0.21 claimed for the Fusion and the DieselMax is a 30 ft. streamliner! The Railton is a teardrop with 1/2 tear drops over wheels & cockpit. The Toyota Prius, Cd 0.26, has a better profile than any 3 box. Maybe that tarp. over the back of the Fusion hides a boat-tail?

[Jay2TheRescue]

Originally Posted by richochet

That's not so new - Jon Cobb's LSR Railton Mobil Special used ice cooling, instead of a "...bulky radiator", back in 1938. More recently, the JCB DieselMax has too; there are probably others. My calculations give Cobb's car a Cd of 0.162, and the DieselMax is quoted as 0.174. That is only 0.036 less than the 0.21 claimed for the Fusion and the DieselMax is a 30 ft. streamliner! The Railton is a teardrop with 1/2 tear drops over wheels & cockpit. The Toyota Prius, Cd 0.26, has a better profile than any 3 box. Maybe that tarp. over the back of the Fusion hides a boat-tail?

You know I've only been on this site for a few days now, but I'm starting to think Buick was onto something with the early 70's Buick Rivieras with the boat tail rear ends... For that matter, Detroit was blocking off the rear wheelwells on certain model cars (Mostly Caddys, Lincolns, and Oldsmobiles) up until the early 80's. I wonder why this practice stopped, right when they started to design cars with aerodynamics in mind?

[VetteOwner]

those wheel covers were for looks, lotta the old 40's cars had em too

[richochet]

Sometimes the stylists get it right by accident! But look at the nice smooth nave plates on the Bonneville Ford Fusion's wheels.

[BamZipPow]

Originally Posted by richochet

Maybe that tarp. over the back of the Fusion hides a boat-tail?

Maybe not...

With no grill openings or real headlights...and a super low air dam...that front end is pretty clean through the air!

http://www.autobloggreen.com/photos/...at-bonneville/

[richochet]

Originally Posted by BamZipPow

Maybe not...


http://www.autobloggreen.com/photos/...at-bonneville/

Well, that's no boattail! Good photo posting. It is a rear deck extension, though, and with funny sides - probably messy flow around the tail lights. And it sits nearly 3 inches lower, at speed, than in the garage 3/4 front photo. See how close the sills are to the salt - not to mention the 1/2 inch ground clearance at the front.
Maybe the Cd really is down towards 0.21 - yes, the cynic says "towards"!

[Jay2TheRescue]

Originally Posted by richochet

Well, that's no boattail! Good photo posting. It is a rear deck extension, though, and with funny sides - probably messy flow around the tail lights. And it sits nearly 3 inches lower, at speed, than in the garage 3/4 front photo. See how close the sills are to the salt - not to mention the 1/2 inch ground clearance at the front.
Maybe the Cd really is down towards 0.21 - yes, the cynic says "towards"!

Looks like a parachute to me...

[richochet]

Originally Posted by Jay2TheRescue

Looks like a parachute to me...

You could just be right; they do use those things there. I was wondering - but there is still a rear deck extension.

[Jay2TheRescue]

Originally Posted by richochet

You could just be right; they do use those things there. I was wondering - but there is still a rear deck extension.

Yeah, it just looks like they extended the rear to partially enclose the parachute to make it look more like the stock model.

[Hateful]

played with the photo and they are chutes