Aero front license plate

[red91sit]

Originally Posted by lunarhighway

i'm curently design a cover plate for a depression in my front bumper that will fair the licence plate into the bumper. legally i can't do much to the shape of the plate so i have to work with the space around it


this is what it should look like when finished (also note the grill cover that curently is only tape...the 2 top rows are closed on the back anyway!, and the airdam extention that shouldn't be to hard to make once i find a suitable material):


my initial idea was to just cover the depression, but since the licence plate is in front of it i decided to design the cover so that it would make a smooth transition between the edges of the licence plate and the lines of my bumper.

i doubt this mod will produce any measurable gains but i don't think it will hurt either.

Looks liek some good ideas here! Not to mention a very inteseting little Opel

The air dam extension might not be such a good idea though, I would rather see you add an underbody that slopes down to the lowest points of the undercarriage.

[lunarhighway]

Originally Posted by red91sit

The air dam extension might not be such a good idea though, I would rather see you add an underbody that slopes down to the lowest points of the undercarriage.

are there any arguments directly against the airdam extention? i would like to make such a modification as you mention, but it would present a lot of practical obstacles. i might eventually consider something more radical but while i contemplate if and what i can add, if a simple strip could reduce drag in the area even slightly it would be better than nothing.... unless of course it would somehow have a negative influence i'm overlooking?

back to the topic of lisence plate fairings here's some images of what i'm working on: last night i made a carboard mock up of how the plate should bend...
most likely i'll make it out of some thin metal plate that will be bended into the right shape and painted.

what it should become:
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j5...tski/plate.jpg
the plan:
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j5...i/DSC01341.jpg
mock up of the shape for the corners of the bended plate:

http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j5...i/DSC01351.jpg
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j5...i/DSC01345.jpg
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j5...i/DSC01348.jpg
http://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j5...i/DSC01347.jpg
the next step will be to match the shape to the car and if everything aligns i'll build a template. and hopefully soon something i can test in practice.

[red91sit]

Very nice cardboard mockups!!! but adding the lip can increase frontal area with no appreciable effects on drag. The only real benefit of the lip is having less air going under the car, but it still has to get out of the way so more is directed over and around. It can also deflect air away from high drag places, but this takes a lot of energy too haha. so no real gain there.

Underbodies are FAR more effective, giving noticeable increases, them and grill blocks. An aero bumper would have nearly no effect.