Date:         Mon, 18 Oct 2004 16:43:45 -0400
Reply-To:     David Beierl <dbeierl@ATTGLOBAL.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         David Beierl <dbeierl@ATTGLOBAL.NET>
Subject:      Re: aerodynamics, was: 101 MPH Vanagon!
Comments: To: Alistair Bell <albell@UVIC.CA>
In-Reply-To:  <B2ED2DCE-2125-11D9-BEF9-000A95E94AAC@uvic.ca>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed

At 12:49 10/18/2004, Alistair Bell wrote:

> From an old Road and Track test of the 1980 Vanagon

Was that the issue that also tested a Kenworth articulated lorry and a
Hop-Rod (guess what month...)?  This was long before my interest in the
beast.  I remember they were surprised at how well the KW handled when
light.  And I gained new respect when my own family actually acquired a
Hop-Rod and found out how hard it was to stay on the thing.

>  I found a Cd figure
>of 0.44, and from the above article I found the frontal area of the SA
>van measured as 3.59 m2 (38.6 ft2). Using a weight approximation of
>1720 kg (3792 lbs) I used the calculator on this webpage:
>
>http://www.davewin.com/tech/horsepower_calc.shtml
>
>to arrive at these results:
>
>speed (mph)             power required (hp)
>
>50                              19.3
>60                              30.6

Some issue of ?Road and Track? listed the Vanagon in their superlatives
category for highest horsepower requirement of any car they tested -- 27 hp
at a steady 55 mph IIRC.  So I reckon you're not too far out here.  The
earlier numbers were grossly large.

>70                              46.1
>80                              66.4
>90                              92.2

--
David Beierl - Providence RI USA -- http://pws.prserv.net/synergy/Vanagon/
'84 Westy "Dutiful Passage," '85 GL "Poor Relation"