Lincoln Aerodynamics (BAD)
 

So, i was thinking of ways to improve my cars aerodynamics, I came up with a little drawing of some plans, but before i go about trying to implement them, I was wondering if anyone would like to share their ideas of how to make it better. The idea for the new nose came after driving after it snowed. The snow didnt' stay attached past the nose, it went straight up from the front of the car.

The idea for the nose is from the old Dodge Daytona's and Superbirds. They were aslo very un aerodynamic to begin with, but they got them down to a cd of .29. The whole front fascia comes off as one unit, so it would be easy to remove that and make a new one out of foam or something, it will be freakishly massive though haha.

https://photos-328.ak.facebook.com/ip...21328_2174.jpg

Stock,

https://photos-289.ak.facebook.com/ip..._3289_6586.jpg

Need Toecutter to chime in but I think the nose would help but the backend should be where you should put a lot of effort. Go with undertrays, wheel skirts, partial in the front, figure a way to slope the back, some kind of deflector on the hood to help push air over the almost straight windscreen and tape the door handles.

In this case, front end mods are justified, owing to how square the transitions are. I'd bet you're currently getting separated flow at the very front of the vehicle.

I'm with z: fashioning something to taper the roofline downward and the greenhouse inward past the back window is critical on this car. The wind sees it as a pickup truck with a tonneau cover - you need a "bed" aero shell (see the Phil Knox references for his method).

I'm sure Toecutter will chime in with his list of mods.

We need a thread to refer people to. This question comes up pretty regularly.

Don't forget smooth wheel covers. You've got some serious food processors on there now ;)

I do already have the grill block, and underbody panels on the front. The problem is when I get to the end of the engine bay, I have the exhuast pipes and a driveshaft that moves up and down several inches. Behind that I have the rear end which is a large source of drag as well, but again it moves making it much more difficult to make aerodynamic.

The hood already does have a bit of a lip at the end which would help, but as you mentioned the air is already well disturbed here from the front of the car. I was mostly concerned with the nose at this point. It's not the biggest place for drag, but the easiest for me to fix. How does the shape of my planned nose look? I read a lot of reports from NASCAR testing, and they seem to have found best aerodynamics when the nose when it was shaped about like the one I have pictured. I've heard that you want the most air to go over the vehicle, but their testing went against this idea. Perhaps this is due to the high ground clearance? Or the lower the nose the more flat they were?

I've read both: that you want a blunt, roughly hemispherical leading edge (as you've done). Problem with that is the stagnation point becomes higher, so more air goes beneath the car, with implications for handling (front end lift).

The other school of thought is generously rounded front-to-hood-and-sides transitions, but the lower part of the bumper should be more or less vertical, to lower the stagnation point and get more air over the car. (The EV1, Honda Insight, and the Bonneville Cobalt that came up earlier this week are more like this)

EDIT: I'd go with option 2 for your car because you have more unshielded stuff beneath the car.

If your worried about the driveshaft etc. Leave the tunnel area uncovered and install some spoilers.

List added: List of aero mods you can do to your car

Not discouraging discussion of specifics for your particular car, but I think a general list will be useful to have around.

don't forget lowering, shopping the roof, and shaving the handles. ;)

I ment to raise the hoodline with it sloping from the front to the windshield where it's about 5" high toward the windshield. I did this on my Madza and saw about a 1.5% increase in FE but the windshield slopes a little better than yours.

I have to admit, I have wondered why you're driving the limo. :) Not that there's anything wrong with trying to do better with what you've got.

Hello -

How about clear plexiglass to create an aero-shape? :

https://home.earthlink.net/~cfg83/gas...ncoln_aero.jpg

Not practical, obviously (no wipers for that giant front window and good luck opening the trunk!), but it would be neet to know what the CD change is. The boat tail would be supported by a monster spoiler.

Are there any cheapo-aero modeling programs out there?

CarloSW2

My apologies if I find this amusing :)

I remember way back when, reading in one of those car rags, some kid had a giant boat of a car with a big old motor in it (might have been a lincoln). According to the article, he took EVERYTHING (no more body or dash, etc) except the powertrain and gasstank and wheels off and bolted down a lawnchair or somesuch behind the wheel, put on some goggles, and did 11 second 1/4 miles.

huh, huh? Huh?... :D
https://www.1966batmobile.com/sideclean.gif

Don't forget the rear taper (after the roof) ... 10 to 12 degrees.

Kinda off topic but something else you could do thats not Aero but helps a bunch is get a block heater. I know on the 3.0 l with the rpm I was turn it took forever to get the engine warm. It had a dramatic affect on the FE.

You certainly can put more underbody covering on the car. Check this link:
https://www.pro-touring.com/forum/sho...ight=belly+pan

He had pics at one point but my computer dopes not seem to be loading them now? If they don't come up for anybody else, I have copies that I dl'd to my hard drive.

The thing is, only the very rear of the driveshaft moves. The front of course remains stationary. If you really want to leave the driveshaft exposed, find some driveshaft loops (drag race safety equipment and good insurance in case you ever lose a front u-joint) and use those as mounts for a smooth panel on either side of the driveshaft.

I'm not sure if the Lincoln uses a 4-link rear or leaf springs (I'm not a Ford guy) but either way you could probably do some aero around the rear axle using a sheet of flexible plastic. I'm working on this for my LeBaron (FWD, but a solid rear axle) and I think if it was attached to the suspension controll arms and the axle it would work fine. The plastic would be able to flex with the movement of the suspension and hopefully wouldn't make the kind of sounds you get from flexing a large sheet of metal.

For the rear of the car, looks like you could benefit from vortex generators or a lip spoiler. If you can, grab the March issue of "Hot Rod" and read the wind tunnel article they have. Talks a bit about lip spoliers and how they can be used to reduce drag. Basically tricks the air into thinking you have a boattail.

See if you can find more aero mirrors. I'm sure yours look alot like the ones on my '70 Caddy - very square and brick-like...

Consider an extractor vent on the hood like Ford used on the GT-40 (try google images if you are not familiar with it). It can help redirect what air does need to come into the engine bay back out and avoid it going under the car, plus it can help 'fill in' the low pressure/detached air flow area you likely have above the front of the nose.

MetroMPG -

Whoops, I always forget that. Here is a revised version with about 10 degree taper, wheel covers, and front wheel air deflectors (or whatever they're called) :

https://home.earthlink.net/%7Ecfg83/g...ln_aero_02.jpg

CarloSW2

Not real serious here, but I wonder if 4 wheel steering could be set up to keep the nose pointed into the wind but still keep the wheels going straight down the road?

On the other hand, if the rear wheels turned as much as the front, there'd be no advantage to backing into a parallel space. You could just pull in nose first the way most people do it any way. ;)

Horray!!! I ordered a Fuel Consumption Display today. 25 mpg, here I come! lol

Alrighty, I've got another plan for the car,
The top and the bottom of the car are VERY unaerodynamic, so why not use the sides? My main concern is the front wheels will disturb all flow going past them? Also it will be less triangley, more half cirlce shaped, but that's a lot harder to draw haha.

https://www.freewebs.com/red91sit/lin...owfrontend.jpg

Lincoln Aero Concept
 

I have a caprice and it is very simular shape. You know how the hood is two pieces of sheetmetal spotweilded together? remove the "skin" replace it your own fiberglass. Make it like a wide cowl induction hood. It won't block your visibility moe than the big hood does now... and the windshield will shrink, and the angle the wind hits it would be better. Decreace the gap on the front wheel, turn the back in to a fastback, like a Mustang, Camero, corvette. Cut off the whole back window, window sill, sides of trunk. Camero hatches are heavy though (too much glass is heavy). Use a small back window like the one off a 1998 Ford Exsort ZX2.

https://www.fuelly.com/attachments/fo...56bc6d93e0.jpg

I think the most aerodymanic front clip would be one that has the "transparent grill" as far forward as possible. In stead of a "grill block", we make it half its original size and move the bumper out 6 inches, any more may be a PITA. Then ALL of the rest of the bodywork angled back and as sleek as possible, like the new Hondas.

https://www.fuelly.com/attachments/fo...b0e6d3eef4.jpg

David

Just a custom front clip
https://www.fuelly.com/attachments/fo...d4a3664edc.jpg

Noone likes my design? :rolleyes: either use plexi glass (may not be good idea for winter, ice wont melt off it) or a newer style light, like the new Mazda Miata, though expensive

Not to be a pessimist, but how you should focus on the easier stuff first. Everyone is talking major body modifications here. I have done simple and much smaller mods to my LeBaron sedan (pretty similar body shape) and improved my mileage to over 30. Check my fuel log. You can steadily improve your mileage with much smaller aero mods like rear fender skirts, front fender gap fillers and an improved airdam without having to do anything so drastic.

BluEyes -

I think that the idea is that the Lincoln has so much going against it that it could use major plastic surgery. For instance, the Lincoln weighs 4400 lbs and your car weights 3000 lbs.

But I agree the easier mods should be done first. More bang for the buck. And if the big mods don't pay off it will be pretty discouraging. Where's that free wind tunnel when you need it most!?!?!?!

CarloSW2

Caprice - Great ideas you have there, a few problems I have though, I"m quite short, otherwise I would definetly have the cowl on there, but i woudln't be able to see over it haha. I"m about 1-2 inches above hood level, the way it is haha. The rear end though, i had a GENIUS idea. Remember on old cars how they would put a layer of slats to keep sunlight from coming in, but you could still look backwards through. https://www.cal-mustang.com/catalog/i...4268c_2std.jpg

These don't seem like they'd be too bad for flow? as it would flow from one step to the other, isntead of creating a "GIANT vortex behind the window.

:EDIT:: BTW - I jumped the lincoln too day, and got about 4-5 feet of air haha.