Active Grill Shutters

[Ty]

Wonder what the coefficient of drag is on that Dodge Ram with shutters open vs closed and what that realistically translates to for MPG gains.

Saw this in the comment section of the original article: "This is just getting back only some of the aerodynamics lost to pedestrian impact regulations, which eliminated the sloped hood, which was probably the single most important thing you could do to lower drag"

Does Elio get away from the sloped hood regulations because its an auto-cycle?

You'd think they'd want the pedestrians to fly right over the vehicle rather than get smashed by the flat nose... I know hitting that windshield would make for a bad day.

 

[WilliamH]

Wonder what the coefficient of drag is on that Dodge Ram with shutters open vs closed and what that realistically translates to for MPG gains.

Saw this in the comment section of the original article: "This is just getting back only some of the aerodynamics lost to pedestrian impact regulations, which eliminated the sloped hood, which was probably the single most important thing you could do to lower drag"

Does Elio get away from the sloped hood regulations because its an auto-cycle?

You'd think they'd want the pedestrians to fly right over the vehicle rather than get smashed by the flat nose... I know hitting that windshield would make for a bad day.

Did a little looking around and came up with this article ....
---> http://www.iihs.org/iihs/sr/statusreport/article/48/10/3 <---
Sounds like they're trying to fix stupid again.

Wonder how the front of this truck complies with their ideas?
Think they'd like that nice grill guard?

 

[outsydthebox]

Wonder what the coefficient of drag is on that Dodge Ram with shutters open vs closed and what that realistically translates to for MPG gains.

Saw this in the comment section of the original article: "This is just getting back only some of the aerodynamics lost to pedestrian impact regulations, which eliminated the sloped hood, which was probably the single most important thing you could do to lower drag"

Does Elio get away from the sloped hood regulations because its an auto-cycle?

Am I missing something here? I thought the "sloped hood" was actually a benefit to pedestrians as, making more space between the hood and the engine, created a collapsible impact area.

 

[TeamCoconutOreo]

I say, "Elio give me a car with 80mpg and sell me a few optional bits and pieces to get me to 84 and beyond".

No really, I wouldn't mind a lower MPG Elio closer to the $6800 that I could add a shield here, a shutter there, a front air dam, a 91 octane tune that uses a more efficient timing curve to hit 84+ mpg.

For $6800 I get 80mpg,
For $7600 I get 84 mpg,
And for $8200 I get 90 mpg using premium unleaded. Or something like that.

My two pennies worth.

 

[floydv]

Am I missing something here? I thought the "sloped hood" was actually a benefit to pedestrians as, making more space between the hood and the engine, created a collapsible impact area.

Here's an interesting article in Car and Driver that notes the ripple effect of pedestrian protection requirements, not only on hood design but on other aspects of the vehicle, resulting in an overall "bloated" look.

http://www.caranddriver.com/feature...rian-protection-regs-make-cars-fatter-feature

With respect to the Elio, this may not be an issue warranting a design change (or perhaps PE already factored that into the current P5 design). Looking superficially at the engine compartment, it seems like there's plenty of space between the underside of the hood and the highest hard point of the engine.

 

[CheeseheadEarl]

The Insurance Idiots for Highway Stupidity should nandate helmets for pedestrians. Better yet, get those non highway funding walkers off my roads, make it safer for me that way.

 

[Hotscoots]

The Insurance Idiots for Highway Stupidity should nandate helmets for pedestrians. Better yet, get those non highway funding walkers off my roads, make it safer for me that way.

They should not be allowed to mandate anything . I didn't vote for them . We give these nimrods too much power . Unless we rein them in, In a few years the EPA will be the 4th branch of Govt.

 

[JEBar]

OK, we are dancing around political commentary and need to change the tune before things go over to the dark side

 

[Injunjoe]

With pedestrian impact mitigation I could hit a deer and have it get up, dust itself off, and go about its business!