MAX Update No. 91: The Light Underbelly

Reader Contribution by Staff

<p>MAX has a smooth belly pan under the engine compartment (it’s the black ABS sheet shown in <a title=”MAX Update No. 82: The Dark Underbelly” href=”https://www.motherearthnews.com/green-transportation/100-mpg-the-dark-underbelly”>MAX Update No. 82: The Dark Underbelly</a>) and under the passenger compartment (the cockpit floor is a sheet of 16 gauge steel) and last year I completed the belly-smoothing operation by adding a sheet of quarter inch plywood between the rear of the cockpit and the rear of the body. The modern term for this tapering-upward-in-the-back-bellypan is “Diffuser”.* The wind tunnel folks have determined that minimum drag comes with a diffuser angle of six degrees from horizontal, so that’s what I used with MAX.</p>
<p>Here’s a video of the air under the rear third of the car, shot with the remarkable** GoPro HERO2 sport video camera, and edited on my Mac laptop with iMovie. I’m starting to have some fun with this setup.</p>
<p>
<object width=”480″ height=”385″>
<param name=”movie” value=”http://www.youtube.com/v/9pyQfyKYfRo&hl=en_US”>

Comments (0) Join others in the discussion!
    Online Store Logo
    Need Help? Call 1-800-234-3368