Bunch of info about aero

Even some DIY testing..
http://www.pro-touring.com/forum/showpost.php?p=595237&postcount=1

autospeed is one of my favorite websites - whenever I'm bored I'll spend hours going through their archive of tech articles.

badass.

looks like i got some reading to do. 

I wonder if using vortex generators would have a positive effect on a truck?  aero improvements to trucks seems to have become a side project for me.  might have to get me some cardboard and duct tape. lol

here's some fun with paint. lol



we all know about the bubble caused by air going into the bed. this bubble is what makes leaving your tailgate up give you better gas mileage than with it down or gone.  truthfully, the "turbo-nets" are the best route to go.

the question becomes, how do race car inspired aero mods work on trucks?  is there enough air pressure present at the tail of the truck for a spolior to be affective, or would you need to use a wing to get up into better air?

how much would aero under the truck improve drag/cooling?

of course most aero stuff isn't worthwhile for city driving, and adding downforce isn't good for highway travel either, so you would have to take that into consideration as well.
just fun questions that interest me.  plus working on this stuff doesn't cost any money!  lol

Also don't forget that tubulence equals air resistance and drag, so a smooth line for air to travel over the vehicle is ideal for both top speed and fuel mileage.

you should make a small wind tunnel and get a model s10 and play with it.
or ask if you can use the local middle/high school for access to their mini windtunnel

you should make a small wind tunnel and get a model s10 and play with it.
or ask if you can use the local middle/high school for access to their mini windtunnel

trust me, there are no mni windtunnels around here. lol    maybe georgia tech would have one.   i do have some s10 models though, reg cab and extended.

here's something to think about:

this is the lingenfelter sonoma, most of us have seen it i'm sure.



The rad of the truck is in the bed:



to get air into the rad, they built ducts in front of the rear wheel tubs.



and added this deflector under the truck on both sides:



So that tells me that there must be a significant amount of air traveling under the truck.

unfortunately for us, the Sonoma looks like this now:



damn shame.

of course the best way to improve aero would to be to make the truck a fastback.



but looks and use of rear view mirror would over rule this in my book.

Rod Millen insane pikes peak tacoma also used a fast back:

Well yeah there's a significant amount of air going under the trucks, the body would have to be dropped about 2" on my s10s frame and about 2" of lip added for there to be little air going under it.
The ideal conditions would be to have a sucker lip if the aero was right, one that almost hits the ground like on C5s/

Also where does the air from the rad vent? Out the bottom on our trucks sending all that air underneath.

well you could build some vents into the side of the fenders like the GNs have.  or perhaps build a custom cowl hood with some heat extractors on the sides.  that way once you reduce the air under the truck you wont reduce the cooling ability of the rad as bad as eliminating the flow all together.

what about a custom belly pan with dimples like a golf ball.  that way you could smooth out the air under the truck and perhaps build in some extractors or something to perhaps create a low pressure zone under the bed to help "suck" the back of the truck down.  perhaps?

these were just too cool to not add to this forum even though they don't relate much to the trucks...

CFD illustration of the GT2 C6R ZR1



Turbulence illustration



Shot of the heat extractor on the hood.  the racecar has a solid belly pan under the car, so all the hot air from the rad exits out the hood.  This also helps reduce drag.