Drag Coefficient

Vapour Trails

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0.38 is what I remember. I can't say where I came upon that value, but it seems reasonable. Our cars are like bricks in the wind unfortunately.
 

Natural1

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I think it is actually .36 or so, the GT500 is .38, but who gives a filp. If you want a bullet on wheels get a Z06. I love our cars because they have style and class; I wouldn't ask questions when I don't want to hear the answers.
 

Airborne2000

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ok ready. i think this is correct but im sure someone will have something to say about it.

...when sitting behind a long range rifle preparing to engage a target 800+ meters away a million things are running through your mind, one thing is ballistic coefficient.

objects that travel in one way or another have a coefficient. 2 main factors on a bullet is Drag and gravity. well with a car we have no gravity to change except to make your car lighter, but drag we have a bunch, guns and cars.

so what is coefficent? its a rating between 0 & 1 ex. .551, this is the ballistic coefficient of a m118 LR .308 bullet.

this is all based off of math formulas to take similar objects and place them on an even playing field to determine which on is better. whether its bullets, cars, planes...etc.

so a mustang has .38 out of 1 rating. and a corvette may have .65 out of 1 rating. so when all the cars were compared through hundreds of formulas the corvette is better is sense on coefficient.

these math formulas arent just "which is faster in the 1/4" it goes in to extreme detail on millions of things about the vehical. HP is only one of the 100s of factors applied, by no means is it the most important. i would say vehical shape is rated more indept then any thing else.

can you change your coefficient? sure, just a good spoiler could just pop you up to .40 out of 1.

I compared to bullets because i know that way better then anything else. I am using my best judgement on all of this because I have never heard of vehical coefficients but i know all kinds of coefficients are the same.


BTW nothing in the world is 1 out of 1. that would be an absolutely perfect object.
 
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jroc07gt

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Lowering the car will reduce drag, narrower tires reduce drag while wider tires increase it, sharp edges increase drag while smooth transitions reduce it, etc. The main reason why our cars has such a high drag coefficient has to do with how fuggin big it is, and it's quite boxy compared to a car like the 350z.

The 05-09 Mustang has a drag coefficient of .36. For every increase in .01 of drag coefficient there is a .2mpg decrease.


Edit: Wikipedia claims the 2010 mustang has much better aerodynamics.

(coefficient of drag has been reduced by 4% on V6 models and 7% on GT models).

Compared to the 99-04 Mustang coefficient drag of 0.36, it's not as bad as I thought.
 
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Dr Wu

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So if I substract 7% from .36 it should show the drag coefficient of the 2010 GT? I come up with .3348. First time I do this so...
 
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Airborne2000

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A lower numerical value indicates less drag. Splitters and wings that add downforce increase drag. The coefficient is largely determined by the frontal area of the car.


gotcha, like i said, im baseing the info I wrote off of bullets, just because i know them better. I guess cars and bullets are different. in the bullet world, very well made hand crafted rounds have like .9 ish BC and crappy rounds have like .22 is BC.
 

Dr Wu

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Some have mentioned the Corvette, I can give a real life track comparision. An acquaintance with a stock C6 Z06 at PBIR will run low 11's @ 125-127, a stock 2010 GT500 ran 119.59 (he lined up next to me) with a bad et 'cause he could not hook. That Z06 ran a best of 179 mph at Mile Marker 1, another stock GT500, who posted at SVT forum, claimed a top speed of 153 mph if my memory serves me correctly. If you do the math it becomes clear: aerodynamics. While we knew the Z06 was more slippery, IMHO, the difference is HUGE.

The 7% reduction in drag in the 2010 is partly due to a plastic underbody diffuser, like BMW among other car manufacturers, use to acheive better gas mileage. It not only reduces drag, but by reducing turbulence it makes the car more stable at high speeds. I suspect most of the drag reduction was due to less frontal area as mentioned above.

Car manufacturers know all too well the returns of a slippery design, Ford is no exception, and that is why they are improving on the existing Mustang platform. With gas prices high and surely heading higher, I suspect the next generation Mustang will be vastly improved in this area. The next platform will be shared with the Falcon of Ford Australia from what I've read. Hopefully, the designers will give us some good looks too.

Regarding who owns the standing mile, I believe the Ford GT supercar holds that crown. The first car race I remember as a little boy, was the historical win at Le Mans by the GT 40.

FWIW, I owned an '04 C5 Z06.
 
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07torchgt

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ok ready. i think this is correct but im sure someone will have something to say about it.

...when sitting behind a long range rifle preparing to engage a target 800+ meters away a million things are running through your mind, one thing is ballistic coefficient.

objects that travel in one way or another have a coefficient. 2 main factors on a bullet is Drag and gravity. well with a car we have no gravity to change except to make your car lighter, but drag we have a bunch, guns and cars.

so what is coefficent? its a rating between 0 & 1 ex. .551, this is the ballistic coefficient of a m118 LR .308 bullet.

this is all based off of math formulas to take similar objects and place them on an even playing field to determine which on is better. whether its bullets, cars, planes...etc.

so a mustang has .38 out of 1 rating. and a corvette may have .65 out of 1 rating. so when all the cars were compared through hundreds of formulas the corvette is better is sense on coefficient.

these math formulas arent just "which is faster in the 1/4" it goes in to extreme detail on millions of things about the vehical. HP is only one of the 100s of factors applied, by no means is it the most important. i would say vehical shape is rated more indept then any thing else.

can you change your coefficient? sure, just a good spoiler could just pop you up to .40 out of 1.

I compared to bullets because i know that way better then anything else. I am using my best judgement on all of this because I have never heard of vehical coefficients but i know all kinds of coefficients are the same.


BTW nothing in the world is 1 out of 1. that would be an absolutely perfect object.

thats why we need figure out how to drag race in a vacuum haha
 

Bingo

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I hear the Prius has a low drag coefficient. :idea:
 

Dr Wu

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Hatchman, by the time you check this thread again it will drop below .27...LOL
 
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Airborne2000

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thats why we need figure out how to drag race in a vacuum haha


Back to bullets with this, so a m118 LR round has a small hole in tip of the bullet, about the size of a mechanical pencil tip. this is not "hollow point" instead as the bullet is traveling to its target the small hole is creating a "worlwind" effect in a very small spot at the very tip of thre round. this small spot is not containing air, so in turn if you take the air away you create vacuum. so this is now sucking the bullet threw the air, pulling it further then standard .308s.

so can we apply this to our cars? get the drill out, maybe a 6" hole strait through the front of your car. :LMAO:
 

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