The drag coefficient is a common measure in automotive design as it pertains to
aerodynamics. Drag is a force that acts parallel and in the same direction as
the airflow. The drag coefficient of an automobile impacts the way the
automobile passes through the surrounding air. When automobile
companies design a new vehicle they take into consideration the automobile drag
coefficient in addition to the other performance characteristics. Aerodynamic
drag increases with the square of speed; therefore it becomes critically
important at higher speeds. Reducing the drag coefficient in an automobile
improves the performance of the vehicle as it pertains to speed and fuel
efficiency. There are many different ways to reduce the drag of a vehicle. A
common way to measure the drag of the vehicle is through the drag area.
Reducing drag The reduction of drag in road vehicles
has led to increases in the top speed of the vehicle and the vehicle's fuel
efficiency, as well as many other performance characteristics, such as
handling and acceleration. The two main factors that impact drag are the frontal
area of the vehicle and the drag coefficient. The drag coefficient is a
unit-less value that denotes how much an object resists movement through a fluid
such as water or air. A potential complication of altering a vehicle's
aerodynamics is that it may cause the vehicle to get too much lift. Lift is an
aerodynamic force that flows perpendicular to the airflow around the
body of the vehicle. Too much lift can cause the vehicle to lose road traction
which can be very unsafe. Lowering the drag coefficient comes from streamlining
the exterior body of the vehicle. Streamlining the body requires
assumptions about the surrounding airspeed and characteristic use of the
vehicle. For high speed applications near or
above the speed of sound, a Sears-Haack body, is an idealized shape that
minimizes wave drag, which is the drag associated with supersonic shock waves.
This shape essentially consists of an elongated tube with pointed ends.
Deletion The deletion of parts on a vehicle is an
easy way for designers and vehicle owners to reduce parasitic and frontal
drag of the vehicle with little cost and effort. Deletion can be as simple as
removing an aftermarket part, or part that has been installed on the vehicle
after production, or having to modify and remove an OEM part, meaning any part
of the vehicle that was originally manufactured on the vehicle. Most
production sports cars and high efficiency vehicles come standard with
many of these deletions in order to be competitive in the automotive and race
market, while others choose to keep these drag-increasing aspects of the
vehicle for their visual aspects, or to fit the typical uses of their customer
base. = Roof rack =
A roof rack is a common trait on many SUV and station wagon vehicles. While
roof racks are very useful in carrying extra storage on a vehicle, they also
increase the frontal area of the vehicle and increase the drag coefficient. This
is because as the air flows over the top of the vehicle, following the smooth
lines of the hood and windshield, then collides with the roof rack and causes
turbulence. The removal of this part has led to increases in fuel efficiency in
several studies. = Mud flaps =
Mudflaps are now rarely specified as standard on production cars as they
interfere with the clean airflow around the vehicle. For larger vehicles such as
trucks, mud flaps are still important for their control of spray, and in 2010
a new version of the mud flap was introduced that has been shown to create
significantly less aerodynamic drag than standard mud flaps.
= Rear spoiler = A rear spoiler usually comes standard in
most sports vehicles and resembles the shape of a raised wing in the rear of
the vehicle. The main purpose of a rear spoiler in a vehicle's design is to
reduce lift, thereby increasing stability at higher speeds. In order to
achieve the lowest possible drag, air must flow around the streamlined body of
the vehicle without coming into contact with any areas of possible turbulence. A
rear spoiler design that stands off the rear deck lid will increase downforce,
reducing lift at high speeds while incurring a drag penalty. Flat spoilers,
possibly angled slightly downward may reduce turbulence and thereby reduce the
coefficient of drag. Some cars now feature automatically adjustable rear
spoilers, so at lower speed the effect on drag is reduced when the benefits of
reduced lift are not required. = Side mirrors =
Side mirrors both increase the frontal area of the vehicle and increase the
coefficient of drag since they protrude from the side of the vehicle. In order
to decrease the impact that side mirrors have on the drag of the vehicle the side
mirrors can be replaced with smaller mirrors or mirrors with a different
shape. Several concept cars of the 2010s are replacing mirrors with tiny cameras
but this option is not common for production cars because most countries
require side mirrors. = Radio antenna =
While they do not have the biggest impact on the drag coefficient due to
their small size, radio antennas commonly found protruding from the front
of the vehicle can be relocated and changed in design to rid the car of this
added drag. The most common replacement for the standard car antenna is the
shark fin antenna found in most high efficiency vehicles.
= Windshield wipers = The effect that windshield wipers have
on a vehicles airflow varies between vehicles; however, they are often
omitted from race vehicles and high efficiency concepts in order to maintain
the smallest possible coefficient of drag. A much more common option is to
replace the windshield wipers with lower profile wipers, or to only remove the
windshield wiper on the passenger side of the vehicle, and even to fabricate a
deflector to deflect the air up and over the wipers.
Another alternative is to equip the vehicle with a single wiper placed in
the centre of the windshield, allowing it to cover both sides of the
windshield. This mitigates the amount of drag by decreasing the surface area of
the blade. While the application of a single wiper blade is useful for
performance level vehicles, a common street car would see only marginal
improvements in both fuel efficiency and acceleration/speed.
Fabrication The application of new parts and
concepts onto the vehicle design are easier to include when in the design
stage of a vehicle, rather than in aftermarket parts, however, the
fabrication of these parts assists in the streamlining of the vehicle and can
help greatly reduce the drag of the vehicle. Most vehicles with very low
drag coefficients, such as race cars and high efficiency concept cars, apply
these ideas to their design. = Wheel covers =
When air flows around the wheel wells it gets disturbed by the rims of the
vehicles, and forms an area of turbulence around the wheel. In order
for the air to flow smoother around the wheel well smooth wheel covers are often
applied. Smooth wheel covers are hub caps with no holes in them for air to
pass through. This design reduces drag, however, it may cause the brakes to heat
up quicker because the covers prevent airflow around the brake system. This is
why this modification is more commonly seen with high efficiency vehicles,
rather than sports cars or racing vehicles.
= Partial grille block = The front grille of a vehicle is used to
direct air directly into the engine compartment. In a streamlined design the
air flows around the vehicle rather than through; however, the grille of a
vehicle redirects airflow from around the vehicle to through the vehicle,
which then increases the drag. In order to reduce this impact a grille block is
often used. A grille block covers up a portion, or the entirety of the front
grille of a vehicle. In most high efficiency models or vehicles with low
drag coefficients there will be a very small grille already built into the
design, therefore a grille block is unneeded. The grille in most production
vehicles is built generally to have as much air flowing into the engine
compartment in order to keep it from overheating. But most commonly there is
too much airflow into the engine compartment, preventing it from warming
up in a timely manner, so a grille block is used to increase engine performance
and reduce the vehicle's drag. = Under tray =
The underside of a vehicle often traps air in various places and adds
turbulence around the vehicle. In most racing vehicles this is eliminated by
covering the entire underside of the vehicle in what is called an under tray.
This tray prevents any air from becoming trapped under the vehicle and reduces
drag. = Fender skirts =
Fender skirts are often made as extensions of the body panels of the
vehicles and cover the entire wheel wells. Much like smooth wheel covers
this modification reduces the drag of the vehicle by preventing any air from
becoming trapped in the wheel well and assists in streamlining the body of the
vehicle. Fender skirts are more commonly found on the rear wheel wells of a
vehicle because the tires do not turn and the design is much simpler. This is
commonly seen in vehicles such as the first generation Honda Insight. Front
fender skirts have the same effect on reducing drag as the rear wheel skirts,
but must be further offset from the body in order to compensate for the tire
sticking out from the body of the vehicle as turns are made.
= Modified front bumper = The front bumper is the first part of
the vehicle that the air must flow around. Therefore, it plays a crucial
role in reducing drag. A front air dam is often used which extends from the
very front of the vehicle down to the lowest part of the vehicle. This is done
to direct airflow around and over the vehicle rather than allowing air to
travel under it. Contoured deflectors, or tire spats, are often made as part of
the front bumper in order to direct airflow around the tire without having
any increase to the outward flow. = Boattails and Kammbacks =
A boattail can greatly reduce a vehicle's total drag. Boattails create a
teardrop shape that will give the vehicle a more streamlined profile,
reducing the occurrence of drag inducing flow separation. A kammback is a
truncated boattail. It is created as an extension of the rear of the vehicle,
moving the rear backward at a slight angle toward the bumper of the car. This
can reduce drag as well but a boattail would reduce the vehicles drag more.
Nonetheless, for practical and style reasons, a kammback is more commonly
seen in racing, high efficiency vehicles, and trucking.
Typical drag coefficients The average modern automobile achieves a
drag coefficient of between 0.30 and 0.35. SUVs, with their typically boxy
shapes, typically achieve a Cd=0.35–0.45. The drag coefficient of a
vehicle is affected by the shape of body of the vehicle. Various other
characteristics affect the coefficient of drag as well, and are taken into
account in these examples. Some sports cars have a surprisingly high drag
coefficient, but this is to compensate for the amount of lift the vehicle
generates, while others use aerodynamics to their advantage to gain speed and
have much lower coefficients of drag. Some examples of Cd follow. Figures
given are generally for the basic model. Some "high performance" models may
actually have higher drag, due to wider tires, extra spoilers and larger cooling
systems as many basic / low power models have half size radiators with the
remaining area blanked off to reduce cooling and engine bay drag.
The Cd of a given vehicle will vary depending on which wind tunnel it is
measured in. Variations of up to 5% have been documented and variations in test
technique and analysis can also make a difference. So if the same vehicle with
a drag coefficient of Cd=0.30 was measured in a different tunnel it could
be anywhere from Cd=0.285 to Cd=0.315. Drag area
While designers pay attention to the overall shape of the automobile, they
also bear in mind that reducing the frontal area of the shape helps reduce
the drag. The product of drag coefficient and area - drag area - is
represented as CdA, a multiplication of the Cd value by the area.
The term drag area derives from aerodynamics, where it is the product of
some reference area and the drag coefficient. In 2003, Car and Driver
magazine adopted this metric as a more intuitive way to compare the aerodynamic
efficiency of various automobiles. The force required to overcome drag is:
As drag area CdA is the fundamental value that determines power required for
a given cruise speed it is a critical parameter for fuel consumption at a
steady speed. This relation also allows an estimation of the new top speed of a
car with a tuned engine, Or the power required for a target top
speed, Average full-size passenger cars have a
drag area of roughly 8.50 sq ft. Reported drag areas range from the 1999
Honda Insight at 5.1 sq ft to the 2003 Hummer H2 at 26.5 sq ft. The drag area
of a bicycle is also in the range of 6.5–7.5 sq ft.
See also Automotive aerodynamics
Drag Drag equation
Paul Jaray References
External links Further 500 drag coefficients
Improving Aerodynamics to Boost Fuel Economy
Tel Aviv University reduces drag on trucks by 10%
Simple roll-down test for measuring Cd and Crr for cars and bikes