Grill Aerodynamics

really cant tell if you are serious. you are talking about the hardness of plastic effecting the fuel mileage of a pickup truck... da fuq forum am i on?

 

its so damn difficult in this weird corner of the internet to separate jokes from "serious" questions. reread it again and im still not sure hes joking

 

Then you are on TacomaWorld.

 

A little satire on my part rolled 7 pages and counting of Comedy Central material, who knew?

 

Good save OP.

 

So this thread got me curious and asked my aero engineer at work about it

The amount of blocked off surface areas are good only to the point the radiator needs efficient cooling. The rest of the incoming air for larger or more vents is wasted and creates drag as the incoming air volume has nowhere else to go.

I think the Toyota chief engineer mentioned something about excess turbulence in the engine bay had the hood scoop been functional. Also, the cooling system in the Tacoma is efficient enough if I remember him saying in the video.

More blocked off vents or "shutters" as they're called, will yield gains as much as 1-2 counts of aero efficiency in the tunnel. Usually gains of 0.2 gallon per mile in overall efficiency are possible

This is the simplest way to explain it, if this makes sense... LOL....but not sure if the OP was joking about the Q. I guess it's possible to feel air disruption while vehicle is at speed. Next time ask a front passenger to stick their arm out the window and cup their hand towards the front, you will feel that for sure behind the wheel.

Yes, I have worked inside wind tunnels with him in automotive design, so he is a reliable source. And no..... the OP doesn't know me

 

Yes this is correct. Hence other manufactures like GM going to active areo shutters over the radiator grill as a tool to meet the CAFE mpg requirements. However without the "active" part of the equation the opening must be designed to cool sufficiently under the the most demanding cooling senario of high ambient heat, high load, and low speed. This then makes the opening overkill for highway use and adds significant drag to the vehicle.

 

Awesome, an eye to eye post!