Notices
Motor Sports If you like rallying, road racing, autoxing, or track events, then this is the spot for you.

Vortex Generators Really Work . . . . Fact or Fiction ??

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old Jan 19, 2010, 12:39 PM
  #31  
Evolved Member
iTrader: (23)
 
honki24's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Houston, TX
Posts: 1,579
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Wow, got a chance to read it. They even divulge their optimal findings. They should be 25mm tall, 100mm from the transition of roof to glass, 100mm apart, 5mm thickness, 200mm in length (front to back). They are also supposed to be at a 15 degree attack angle to the direction of flow (so they should not all be pointing directly forward).

I wonder if someone who has them could measure them and compare those measurements to, say, an ebay version. Each of these dimensions is quite important (except for spacing as they note that doesn't change much.)
Old Jan 19, 2010, 01:02 PM
  #32  
Evolved Member
iTrader: (23)
 
honki24's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: Houston, TX
Posts: 1,579
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
I was poking around after really enjoying that paper, and maybe some of you motorsport and ECU guys can appreciate the root page: http://www.mitsubishi-motors.com/cor...w/e/index.html

They publish lots of their findings including the aero designs, ECU controls, AYC design, and MIVEC.
Old Jan 19, 2010, 03:45 PM
  #33  
Evolved Member
iTrader: (5)
 
GTisRule's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Vantucky, WA
Posts: 717
Likes: 0
Received 2 Likes on 2 Posts
Originally Posted by honki24
Wow, got a chance to read it. They even divulge their optimal findings. They should be 25mm tall, 100mm from the transition of roof to glass, 100mm apart, 5mm thickness, 200mm in length (front to back). They are also supposed to be at a 15 degree attack angle to the direction of flow (so they should not all be pointing directly forward).

I wonder if someone who has them could measure them and compare those measurements to, say, an ebay version. Each of these dimensions is quite important (except for spacing as they note that doesn't change much.)
When I bought the VG for mine, multiple shops couldn't verify the knockoffs were the same measurements as the factory, so I spent the $$$ on factory just because of those white pages.
Old Jan 19, 2010, 05:57 PM
  #34  
Evolving Member
iTrader: (5)
 
aeroweenie's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Renton, Washington
Posts: 203
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
In addition to the angle being 15 deg to the local flow, which is the usual practice, the VGs should be thin resulting in somewhat sharp edges. I imagine the mitsu lawyers nixed that!

Also, they would be hard to make out of molded plastic. Pretty easy to make out of aluminum sheet though, trim the shape, bend the foot, and glue them on. That's what is typically done on aircraft.
Old Jan 19, 2010, 06:01 PM
  #35  
Evolving Member
Thread Starter
iTrader: (39)
 
george3's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Allentown, PA USA
Posts: 242
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Originally Posted by aeroweenie
In addition to the angle being 15 deg to the local flow, which is the usual practice, the VGs should be thin resulting in somewhat sharp edges. I imagine the mitsu lawyers nixed that!

Also, they would be hard to make out of molded plastic. Pretty easy to make out of aluminum sheet though, trim the shape, bend the foot, and glue them on. That's what is typically done on aircraft.
Does anyone know of any manufacturers that make the "thin" kind?

.
Old Feb 17, 2012, 07:36 AM
  #36  
Evolving Member
iTrader: (35)
 
EGbeater's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Colorado
Posts: 497
Received 13 Likes on 11 Posts
Originally Posted by nothere
in a nutshell, a higher wing is better, a vortex generator should help in reducing drag. (with or without a wing.

net affect of the VG prolly... about the same as waxing your car
Originally Posted by MSP608
Has anyone seen the Mythbusters episode where they dimple a car like a golf ball? The thing picked up a 3 mpg in a mile span. I had always wondered if something like that would help on a car. How come we don't see race teams doing this?
Thread resurrection... just wanted to share this article someone else on the infrawebs directed me to, since nothere mentioned the effect of waxing a car on coefficient of drag, and MSP608 brought up the golf-ball dimpling thing:

http://www.hotrod.com/techarticles/b...s/viewall.html

Aero Stuff That Doesn't Really Matter
In addition to our list of five tricks that almost always work, here are some things A2 customers might want to try that are really a waste of time.

Wax: Contrary to what you may read on your favorite message board, well-waxed, smooth paint is no more aerodynamic than the worst spray-can, flat-black primer job you can imagine.

Golf-ball dimples: They do not work on cars, regardless of the scale of the dimples, unless your car is a 1.68-inch-diameter sphere spinning through the air with no ground plane.

Taping seams: Rarely if ever are body-panel seams so large and misaligned that smoothing them with duct tape will make a measurable difference in Cd. We tried it on our Camaro, and it did nothing.

Smoothing rivets and hood pins: The removal of minor surface burbles, such as rivets (remember the Howard Hughes movie?) and hairpin-type hood pins shows no measurable improvement in Cd.

Dropping the tailgate: On a pickup, lowering the tailgate does not usually reduce drag. If you are racing a truck, know that extended cabs and crew cabs are more aero than regular cabs.

The biggie: windshield rake: According to Eaker, "Here's a myth I can bust. Once the windshield is past 45 degrees of rake-and many stock cars average like 60 degrees-you will not see an improvement from laying it down at an even steeper angle." We proved this on the Camaro, building a hugely sloped "windshield" out of foam core. It did nothing.
Old Feb 17, 2012, 07:49 AM
  #37  
Evolved Member
iTrader: (15)
 
Balrok's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: North GA
Posts: 4,167
Received 209 Likes on 189 Posts
Interesting. Personally I'd take what any hot rod guy said with a grain of salt when it came to aero, but in looking it seems they tested "high speed" aero on a stationary target. Ya non of that will give you downforce, but most of it has been proven to give you MPH because they decrease the resistance against the air, likely not much in a 10 second pass though, but in all other forms it does.
Old Feb 17, 2012, 07:54 AM
  #38  
Evolved Member
iTrader: (15)
 
Balrok's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: North GA
Posts: 4,167
Received 209 Likes on 189 Posts
dbl post, damn phone.

Last edited by Balrok; Feb 17, 2012 at 08:29 AM.
Old Feb 17, 2012, 08:07 AM
  #39  
Evolving Member
iTrader: (3)
 
ThatOneKid's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: 9100' in the mountains of Colorado
Posts: 278
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Originally Posted by honki24
Wow, got a chance to read it. They even divulge their optimal findings. They should be 25mm tall, 100mm from the transition of roof to glass, 100mm apart, 5mm thickness, 200mm in length (front to back). They are also supposed to be at a 15 degree attack angle to the direction of flow (so they should not all be pointing directly forward).

I wonder if someone who has them could measure them and compare those measurements to, say, an ebay version. Each of these dimensions is quite important (except for spacing as they note that doesn't change much.)
Anybody know if the rexpeed dry carbon one fits these dimensions/how it stacks up?
Old Mar 1, 2012, 10:02 AM
  #40  
Evolving Member
iTrader: (35)
 
EGbeater's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Colorado
Posts: 497
Received 13 Likes on 11 Posts
Originally Posted by Balrok
Interesting. Personally I'd take what any hot rod guy said with a grain of salt when it came to aero
I don't think you read the article here very carefully... the information in that article from Hod Rod magazine is derived on the extensive experience and knowledge of Gary Eaker, a professional aerodynamicist who has access to not one but TWO wind tunnels... he's certainly not "any hot rod guy":

He's a former senior project engineer from GM's Advanced Aero Group and was later the aerodynamicist for Hendrick Motorsports. He helped develop NASCAR roof flaps, Top Fuel body side deflectors, and the EV-1, with the lowest-ever production-car coefficient of drag (Cd) of 0.19.

His latest project is a wind tunnel known as A2, located alongside his advanced AeroDyn tunnel in Mooresville, North Carolina. AeroDyn operates nearly 24 hours a day with pro race teams, but A2 is a lower-content tunnel without a simulated moving ground plane or the capability of testing a car in yaw, where street-car guys and sportsman race teams can learn lots about their cars.

http://www.hotrod.com/techarticles/b...#ixzz1ntAFuBuk
Old Mar 1, 2012, 12:58 PM
  #41  
Evolved Member
iTrader: (16)
 
Robevo RS's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Park Ridge N.J.
Posts: 10,528
Received 47 Likes on 37 Posts
hot road magazin and areo dymanics LOL
Old Oct 24, 2015, 05:13 PM
  #42  
Newbie
 
sik_z33's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: Boynton Beach, FL
Posts: 88
Likes: 0
Received 10 Likes on 7 Posts
thread resurrection #2.

Does anyone have a working link to the Mitsubishi VG technical report? I would love to read it...
Old Oct 25, 2015, 06:11 AM
  #43  
Newbie
 
FranZ's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Perth, Western Australia
Posts: 47
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
http://bpi-us.com/papers/vortexgenerators.pdf
Old Oct 26, 2015, 07:43 AM
  #44  
Newbie
 
sik_z33's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: Boynton Beach, FL
Posts: 88
Likes: 0
Received 10 Likes on 7 Posts
Thanks!
Old Oct 26, 2015, 12:49 PM
  #45  
Evolved Member
 
hispanicpanic's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: san antonio
Posts: 719
Likes: 0
Received 11 Likes on 9 Posts
Thanks for bumping. This thread is great to keep alive.


Quick Reply: Vortex Generators Really Work . . . . Fact or Fiction ??



All times are GMT -7. The time now is 12:02 AM.