Fake Intakes.

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JMoney

JMoney

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Woodside689
They really bother me- most car manufactures in America and Asia are focusing on fuel mileage currently, so why the **** would you put a pocket on the front of a car that catches air and creates drag? I wish I could have been born 60 years before I was, when the world made sense.
 
I don't think it creates as much drag as you think. An actual cooling vent often creates much more drag, hence active shutters and the like.
 
Air pockets create little drag as its just a little pressure that forces the rest round the car. Actual vents can restrict airflow at most causing less down force but more drag as air passing out the other side would be slower.
 
Under the hood, exntended intake channels actually work as far as channeling air and cooling the motor.

As far as looks, need to see some.
 
@JMoney689 You still never gave a single example. Pics, make, model, anything. I don't mind the discussion, just wish I knew specifically what vehicle(s) you were talking about.
 
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JMoney689
Yeah, other than racism, they did. Is there something you want, a-hole, coming after my posts?
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Anyway, I can't really think of many cars currently on the market with fake air intakes/scoops. There's a few non-supercar that have them, but they're functional such as on Subaru's and the MINI Cooper S.
 
@JMoney689 - If you want to disagree with someone, feel free but drop the name calling. Now.
 
CAMAROBOY69
Examples?
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I'm assuming he's referring to fake air intake vents? The GS F-Sport has them on the sides of the grille.
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What amuses me is he's complaining about these creating drag & affecting fuel economy (when in reality, most manufacturers factor these into their cars), but wants to live in an era where fuel economy was, "LOL, fuel what? Merica! V8s in giant cars 4 all!"
 
Beeblebrox237
I don't think it creates as much drag as you think. An actual cooling vent often creates much more drag, hence active shutters and the like.
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The shutters are more for keeping air out of the radiator and away from the engine. A vent adds drag through skin friction, but this is a secondary drag effect for a typical road car.

The effect of a fake vent can vary. Locally it might not make much difference, but it can have an effect downstream and cause drag in other areas.

The Lexus above looks like it could gain a modest benefit by removing the side vents for a smooth surface (or maybe just open the vents) as they look like they're create quite a bit of unnecessary stagnation.
 
I'm not entirely sure what the problem is even if fake vents are done for nothing more than styling. It's not like things haven't been done solely for styling in the past. Ultimately, people buy cars heavily based on the way they look.
 
homeforsummer
I'm not entirely sure what the problem is even if fake vents are done for nothing more than styling. It's not like things haven't been done solely for styling in the past. Ultimately, people buy cars heavily based on the way they look.
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Exactly. There are plenty of cars that have cool looking aero parts that are practically useless. Toyota Supra's wing for example, provides hardly any downforce yet defines the look of the car.

As for 'cars from the 60's made sense', please tell me more about the utterly useless 3 foot fins on most of the land barges we used to call cars.

60%20Caddy%2062%20coupe.JPG
 
The use of expletives and questionable wishful thinking in the OP's post was a start on the wrong foot, but to get back on topic (as I think we should all do), the answer appears to be that most manufacturers, of course taking into account the aerodynamic characteristics of all the car's bodywork, would still prefer to sell a vehicle that better appeals to the masses even if that means a slight increase in Cd.

This same kind of reasoning is why cars aren't sold with wheel/fender covers which can do a lot to reduce drag. Most of the public would likely find them unnattractive (remember the Brabus Black Baron?) but, at least in countries where it is does not snow or mudslide etc, their addition should not cause any obvious technical problems (assuming they're easily removable).
 
Are we not going to talk about the fact the Mustang has vents on the rear pillars that were from a mid-rear concept that sort of stuck and serve absolutely no purpose?

No? Okay... I guess things did make more sense 60 years ago then.
 
Harry6784
Exactly. There are plenty of cars that have cool looking aero parts that are practically useless. Toyota Supra's wing for example, provides hardly any downforce yet defines the look of the car.
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Out of curiosity, what defines hardly any to you?
 
Harry6784
66lbs of downforce at 90mph, less than a Chrysler Crossfire.
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That's a fair amount considering that a car by nature often creates lift. That downforce also serves to fine tune the over/understeer of the car even if there is no net downforce. It's far from useless.
 
Exorcet
That's a fair amount considering that a car by nature often creates lift. That downforce also serves to fine tune the over/understeer of the car even if there is no net downforce. It's far from useless.
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That may be true just compared to other cars it doesn't translate speed into downforce very effectively. Nearly any car with some type of wing traveling fast enough will create some downforce.
 

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