

| Subject: | Re: Vanagon total drag and mechanical losses |
| From: | Martin Jagersand |
| Date: | Mon, 30 Nov 1998 16:33:09 -0500 |
Thanks for the note Bob. A wind tunnel test of air drag
would certainly be cool. VW probably has done one. Just a matter
of getting the right publication.
Practically I think total drag is of more value, and accuracy
to fractional kW or hp is not a concern. Our vehicles vary
a lot anyway. Campers, transporters and double/sighle cabs
will all have different wind drag. All vehicles will have
rolling resistance varying with tires (BIG difference! See the
archives for an evaluation I wrote some years ago)
tire pressure, how good shape suspension and brake parts are
etc. I'd guesstimate that we should be happy with a 10% error margin.
Road and track used to publish drag figures. Is that possibly
where you got yours from? I saw some for a synchro. I also
have notes with similar (but not exactly the same) figures as
yours somewhere (check my WWW page). Aslo unfortunately can't
find my reference right now.
I'm cc:ing this to the list as other people may be intertested in
the data.
Speed Power
(km/h) (kW)
30 4
40 6
50 8
60 10
70 13
80 16
90 20
100 23
110 27
/Martin
--
Martin Jagersand email: jag@cs.yale.edu
Computer Science Department jag@cs.rochester.edu
Yale University
Slow down and visit the VW diesel Westy page:
WWW: http://www.cs.rochester.edu/u/jag/vw
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Martin - A far more reliable indicator would be just the placement of a
Vanagon in a wind tunnel, like the one down in Marietta, GA. Interested
in donating some $'s? $3000/hour, via appointment, of course.
Seems like I ran across a graph on the Net of Vanagon drag, but have
been unable to relocate it. Best I remember, it takes something like
12hp@40mph, 30hp@60mph and 80hp@80mph.Have something to add on this topic today? Revive this thread in the forum »