Vortex Generators / Hmmm Airtabs

[Bunger]

I think the roof is the only place you're going to see an improvement, since the rear window is at a greater than 11 degree angle, the boundry layer seperates from the window and causes greater drag. Or so says the things I've read and studied. =)

[zpiloto]

Originally Posted by Bunger

I think the roof is the only place you're going to see an improvement, since the rear window is at a greater than 11 degree angle, the boundry layer seperates from the window and causes greater drag. Or so says the things I've read and studied. =)

That's kinda what I figured out. The gain not really worth the effort. Do you think that it might show a better improvement on a box vechile or mini van placed on the roof and sides on the rear end?

[GasSavers_katman]

Definitely better on a boxier vehicle. You might try moving the VGs from the front fenders to the rear, just before the curve to the rear bumper and I use the term bumper loosely.

[JanGeo]

Well I know a really boxy vehicle that shows greatly reduced MPG at higher speed that needs to be tested . . . my xB

[tomauto]

I like. If you were to sell a couple of those vortex generators to a fellow gassaver for his roofline, what would you charge him?

[zpiloto]

Originally Posted by tomauto

I like. If you were to sell a couple of those vortex generators to a fellow gassaver for his roofline, what would you charge him?

I don't have any left to sell. I have 2 left over and I would just give them to you if I had a bunch extra any way. If you want PM me your address and I can send you the paper pattern I used to make them. Just copy the pattern on to cardboard(for durability) then use the carboard cutout to copy on to the aluminium. Then cut out the pattern and bend with a pair of plyers. The whole shooting match was less then ten bucks at Lowes or Home Depot and took about 3 hours to make 45 of them. The aluminum was $6.00 for a ten foot roll and the 2 sided tape was under $5.00.

I know it may be some trouble to try the test again, but your vortex generators might be too close to the trailing edge to be of benefit. On plane wings, the generators are closer to the front of the wing, to keep the air attached over the surface of the wing. You might want to try moving them forward a few inches, and see if there is any difference.

I don't think I'll test them again. It a pretty small gain. With such a small amount of data it really a toss up that they help at all on this car. The roofline is where they have them on the new cars and my cars rear end is rounded on the top and the sides so not much help there.

[GasSavers_katman]

Originally Posted by JanGeo

Well I know a really boxy vehicle that shows greatly reduced MPG at higher speed that needs to be tested . . . my xB

And my Tahoe!

[mosier]

I know it may be some trouble to try the test again, but your vortex generators might be too close to the trailing edge to be of benefit. On plane wings, the generators are closer to the front of the wing, to keep the air attached over the surface of the wing. You might want to try moving them forward a few inches, and see if there is any difference.

One thing that might be of interest is this quick doc on the generators, on the wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vortex_generator), where it says they actually increase drag.

[JanGeo]

Originally Posted by katman

And my Tahoe!

Yeah but what percentage of your fuel consumption is to air drag compared to other drags of your vehicle? I know my xB gets better MPG at lower speeds and drops off over 40mph. Also think about AirTabs for $2.50 each in clear, black or white which have been wind tunnel tested.

[GasSavers_katman]

Originally Posted by JanGeo

Yeah but what percentage of your fuel consumption is to air drag compared to other drags of your vehicle? I know my xB gets better MPG at lower speeds and drops off over 40mph. Also think about AirTabs for $2.50 each in clear, black or white which have been wind tunnel tested.

I've thought about Airtabs in the past but then thought about making some and then people post other cool stuff and I start thinking about that and I procrastinate and get nothing done!
With the brush guard stuff on the Tahoe, which I don't want to take off, I know aerodynamic mods would help, but I'm having problems deciding what to use that won't change the looks too much. Clear Airtabs are a definite possibility. I've wondered about belly pans but are they effective on vehicles with large ground clearances? I never use the luggage rack so I could remove the cross bars. Then I could add a Ram Implosion Wing!