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Re: Fastback marketing


> > >      Everett - It is obvious that the Fastback was marketed as a high 
> > >      performance sports car! The aerodynamic shape makes it much faster 
> > >      that the Square or Notch. Besides, if you squint (and you haven't
had 
> > >      your coffee) it looks exactly like a Porsche 911!
> > 
> > Actually, I believe the drag coefficient of the Squareback is lower,
> > allowing my '65 to effectively reverse time.
> >
> obvious followup question, which was "Okay, what is the second best 
> shape?"  After more work it was determined that the second best shape 
> was just the original cigar shape chopped off square at the desired 
> length.

I just figured the Squareback would have a lower coefficient due to the wagon
tail end - it's the same as the people who get better gas mileage with a shell
on their pickup trucks than without it.

> For what it's worth, I HAVE seen published explainations that the 
> spoilers on the rear of race cars are there to force a high pressure 
> region over the tapering rear of the car where, without the spoiler, 
> a low pressure area would develop and lead to large amounts of vortex 
> shedding and consequent energy loss (drag.)

Hmmm,  I thought the spoilers were there to keep the rear end from lifting off
the ground, due to the same principles you describe above.

> but the only way you could confuse them with sports cars is if 
> you've never seen a Lotus Super Seven.

Never trust any car that was not mass-produced.  :-p

Bye,
Everett and his 1965 1500 S
Transporter site: http://ebus.simplenet.com/Volkswagen




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