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02-06-2014, 04:20 PM | #37 |
Drives: 2008 5 sp. LB Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Idahoi
Posts: 268
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Crap, those pictures are history I guess. I'll take some new ones and post them in a day or so.....
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02-21-2014, 10:19 AM | #38 |
Drives: 2008 5 sp. LB Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Idahoi
Posts: 268
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02-21-2014, 07:03 PM | #39 |
Drives: 07 hatchback Join Date: May 2012
Location: Illinois
Posts: 118
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Those are tiny little things
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02-22-2014, 11:13 AM | #40 |
Drives: 2008 5 sp. LB Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Idahoi
Posts: 268
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As big as they need to be, no bigger. And, the pair spacing may seem far apart, but that has also been deemed adequate by extensive testing. The boundary layer they influence is measured in a fraction of an inch, 1/16" or so, that word is from the airplane people who came up with the these in the first place. Those great big ones real close together are something dreamed up by car people, not airplane people. They may LOOK more effective but may not be.
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02-23-2014, 06:19 PM | #41 |
Drives: 3-door hatch Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 519
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Doesn't the base of the antenna mess up the airflow to the middle pair? It would seem you would want two pairs of VGs at either side of the wake from the antenna base? Or, am I "off-base"? :D
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02-24-2014, 07:18 AM | #42 |
Form>Function
Drives: 07 Flint Sedan Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Tampa
Posts: 4,018
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I was going to ask the same question ^^^
if you say only the tiniest VGs are needed in the right spots to change the air flow significantly, then that antenna must be in there F**king the entire thing up since its so huge in comparison. |
02-24-2014, 10:10 AM | #43 |
Drives: 2008 5 sp. LB Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Idahoi
Posts: 268
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Well... I wasn't about to move the antenna, or change the VG pair spacing. Keep in mind I had a stencil that came with my vg kit, and all you do is position the stencil and then glue a vg where the stencil is cut out, this real simplifies the layout and makes it idiot proof. So, after shifting the stencil side to side, this is what I came up with, probably not optimum, then again that antenna base is nicely faired so it may not be disrupting things too much.
This was a half ass experiment anyway, largely based on the fact I already everything I needed left over from the plane installation. The real surprise to me was, half ass as it was, how it changed the car straight line tracking. For 0 money and an hours time I got great results, and am not real motivated to mess with anything now. A smoke generator rigged to the cars front end (up on the roof front so it wouldn't blind the driver!) somehow, and a video camera aimed at the rear end, would be the real way to determine what was going on, I got lucky it seems. |
11-29-2016, 07:39 PM | #44 |
Hubcap Enthusiast
Drives: '09 3-door 5-speed Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: Phoenix
Posts: 272
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Just read through the whole thread. I hope it's okay to bump an old thread like this. Thanks for writing out what you did, Tom. This is so awsome! I'm going to print some up to try on my car. I even have blue ABS plastic to go with my car.
I did notice that the Yaris is more squirrely on the highway than even my Metro. I assumed it was the quicker steering ratio compared to the Metro's manual rack. This is definitely worth a try. |
11-30-2016, 02:00 PM | #45 |
Drives: 2007 2-door hatchback Join Date: Jul 2016
Location: USAnotCA
Posts: 750
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Vortex street shedding Tercel tracking instability generators
Might try adding little generators like that on the tumblehome area between the backseat side windows and the rear window?
Bringing this over from a thread in Cars for Sale: "I once drove some 300 miles on PA interstates covered with inches of snow because road crews were off for Christmas day. Sharp skinny 155-80/13 tires (new, but not aggressive tread pattern) on 89 Tercel EZ Hatchback w/ rear seat removed. Car wagged it's tail continuously at speed, which was disconcerting until I determined it was otherwise well planted and controllable. There were SUV's etc. that ran off the road every mile or so. Maybe 2 vehicles passed me the whole day." (Vortex street shedding Tercel tracking instability generators) |
12-02-2016, 12:56 AM | #46 |
Drives: 2007 yaris 3 door Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: Denver, Colorado
Posts: 1,000
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I've been looking at these on all new cars when I walk around the lots. there seems to be a lot of them on mirrors, under the front bumper, and on the tail lamps. I wonder why they don't put them on the roof? (besides the giant fake ones)
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12-03-2016, 11:19 AM | #47 |
Drives: 2008 5 sp. LB Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Idahoi
Posts: 268
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I mentioned in another thread, since buying a 2013 Pirus plug in, I was selling my Yaris. After several of the usual selling a used car tire kickers that just wasted my time, the eventual buyer met me at my crane yard, where I had the Yaris on display. Turns out, after he noticed my "IDAHO, A PILOT'S PARADISE" license plate, he was also a pilot. And even before I brought his attention to the VG's on the rear, I knew that would be the hook to make the deal. It was, he bought it!
Yeah, lot's of interesting little aero details on the newer cars, if one knows what to look for. When putting a trailer hitch mount on the Prius, I was underneath it and noted that the rear bottom is nice and smooth, covered with a molded plastic thing. Two protrusions stick down a bit lower then the rest of this panel, providing the needed clearance for some chassis bolts, maybe the shock mounts. Rather then just cut holes in this bottom cover to get the room they needed, the Toyota engineers had provided perfectly streamlined bumpouts of the same plastic material, that got the job done with little or no extra drag. This minor detail, underneath where no one would ever notice, blew me away! They probably reduce the drag some fraction of a tenth of 1 percent overall, but they did it anyway, you have to admire that fanaticism in such a small detail! BTW, I just completed a 3000 mile road trip, and averaged 51 MPG, plus slept in the car overnight twice with the heat set at 68 degrees. The ICE would kick on for about 1 minute every 15 or so, fuel use was such that on 3/4 of a tank, I could have gone several days like this, it's an amazing car, even better then I had thought. Prius campers, I have found out, are somewhat common, as you have built in climate control both summer and winter. Slide the front seats forward, flip the rear down, slide a light plywood deck forward to fill the gap, and nighty night! |
02-11-2017, 01:01 AM | #48 |
Drives: 2007 yaris 3 door Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: Denver, Colorado
Posts: 1,000
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these things must work. they are putting them on golf clubs..
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-relea...300387463.html |
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