Notices
928 Forum 1978-1995
Sponsored by:
Sponsored by: 928 Specialists

Frontal area and CD of a Porsche 928 S4

Thread Tools
 
Search this Thread
 
Old 10-16-2006, 03:59 PM
  #1  
Tahoe Shark
Addict
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
 
Tahoe Shark's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Lake Tahoe, Ca
Posts: 749
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default Frontal area and CD of a Porsche 928 S4

Does anybody know what the CD rating is on the 928 S4. I have heard that is was .32 in stock form. Also how about the frontal area, anybody know that? I was told it is 20 ft Can someone verify this information?

Thanks
Old 10-16-2006, 04:09 PM
  #2  
SwayBar
Rennlist Member
 
SwayBar's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Chicago Bears
Posts: 3,580
Received 351 Likes on 239 Posts
Default

The S4 CD is .36 with the cooling flaps open, and .34 with them closed; not very aero at all.

.36 is the CD of a pickup truck, literally.
Old 10-16-2006, 04:14 PM
  #3  
Tahoe Shark
Addict
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
 
Tahoe Shark's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Lake Tahoe, Ca
Posts: 749
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default

WOW,

Thats terrible!!
Old 10-16-2006, 04:17 PM
  #4  
Nicole
Cottage Industry Sponsor
Lifetime Rennlist
Member
 
Nicole's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Silly Valley, CA
Posts: 25,783
Received 150 Likes on 81 Posts
Default

Originally Posted by SwayBar
.36 is the CD of a pickup truck, literally.
Have pick-up trucks become THAT good in the meantime? I'd like to see some proof of that... it would amaze me.

Remember that the 928 was designed in the early 70ies where aerodynamic testing on production automobiles was still in its infancy. The original 928 was something like 042; the S was 0385 or so.
Old 10-16-2006, 04:20 PM
  #5  
macreel
Addict
Rennlist Member

 
macreel's Avatar
 
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Puget Sound Area
Posts: 1,493
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Thumbs up

Tim... in "porsche 928", by J. Austen, p.121, he gives it as:
Area (meter sq.)= 1.98 (or 21.28)
Drag coef. = 0.34 (prob'y flaps, windows, sun roof closed)


G'luck.

edit - p.s. for comparison, at about the same Reynolds #,
one of Ken's liftbars, crosswise to flow, 1.0
a sphere, 0.6
a hemisphere, dome facing flow, 0.38
some NACA airfoils, 0.2
Old 10-16-2006, 04:27 PM
  #6  
Jim bailey - 928 International
Addict
Rennlist Member

Rennlist
Site Sponsor

 
Jim bailey - 928 International's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Anaheim California
Posts: 11,542
Likes: 0
Received 3 Likes on 3 Posts
Default

OK some numbers but no pickup trucks .. note that frontal AREA is critical to the amount of dragPorsche 924
0.31 - 0.33
1.80 frontal area in meters
19.37 frontal in sq ft
0.56 - 0.59
6.00-6.39 frontal area X drag co-effcient in feet;

Porsche 944 Turbo
0.33 - 0.34
1.90
20.44
0.63 - 0.65
6.75-6.95 ;

Nissan 300 ZX
0.33 - 0.36
1.82
19.58
0.60 - 0.66
6.46-7.05;

Mazda 626 Coupe
0.34 - 0.36
1.88
20.23
0.64 - 0.68
6.88-7.28;


Honda CRX Coupe
0.35 - 0.37
1.72
18.50
0.60 - 0.64
6.48-6.85;

Audi Coupe GT 5E
0.36 - 0.37
1.83
19.69
0.66 - 0.68
7.09-7.28;

Mazda RX-7
0.36 - 0.39
1.69
18.18
0.61 - 0.66
6.55-7.09;

Toyota Celica Supra 2.8i
0.37 - 0.39
1.83
19.69
0.68 - 0.71
7.28-7.68;

VW Scirocco GTX
0.38 - 0.39
1.74
18.72
0.66 - 0.68
7.11-7.30;

Porsche 911 Carrera
0.38 - 0.39
1.78
19.15
0.68 - 0.69
7.28-7.47;

Honda Prelude
0.38 - 0.40
1.84
19.80
0.70 - 0.74
7.52-7.92;

Mitsu Starion Turbo
0.38 - 0.40
1.84
19.80
0.70 - 0.74
7.52-7.92;

Porsche 928 S
0.30 - 0.40
1.96
21.09
0.74 - 0.78
6.33-8.43;

Por 911 Carrera Cabrio
0.40 - 0.41
1.77
19.04
0.71 - 0.73
7.62-7.81;

Jaguar XJ-S
0.40 - 0.41
1.92
20.66
0.77 - 0.79
8.26-8.47;
Old 10-16-2006, 05:33 PM
  #7  
DonS
Drifting
 
DonS's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Live Music Capital of the World - Austin, Texas
Posts: 2,044
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default

IIRC In the comparison book one of the reviews (Road and Track?) said that 928s were actually more aerodynamic going backwards than forwards. Don't know if this is true or not.
Old 10-16-2006, 06:01 PM
  #8  
ibkevin
Defending the Border
Rennlist Member

Rest In Peace
 
ibkevin's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Sun Diego
Posts: 17,541
Likes: 0
Received 2 Likes on 2 Posts
Default

Thanks Jim.
Old 10-16-2006, 06:15 PM
  #9  
Bill Ball
Under the Lift
Lifetime Rennlist
Member
 
Bill Ball's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Buckeye, AZ
Posts: 18,647
Received 49 Likes on 36 Posts
Default

Tim:

Just reconfigure the car so you can drive it backwards, and you will be much better off drag-wise.
Old 10-16-2006, 06:21 PM
  #10  
Jim bailey - 928 International
Addict
Rennlist Member

Rennlist
Site Sponsor

 
Jim bailey - 928 International's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Anaheim California
Posts: 11,542
Likes: 0
Received 3 Likes on 3 Posts
Default

Tim you know with .."6.4L / 515 rwhp / 519 tq *Street Legal ORR " who cares about drag
Old 10-16-2006, 06:28 PM
  #11  
IcemanG17
Race Director
 
IcemanG17's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Stockton, CA
Posts: 16,271
Received 75 Likes on 58 Posts
Default

Tim
So figure yours is slightly better since its lower with a better airdam....maybe .33 or so....with a frontal area of 21sq ft that puts it at about 6.93.....which really isn't all that bad? My guess is you'll "find" some more HP over the winter and easily break the 210mph record!
Old 10-16-2006, 06:57 PM
  #12  
Bill Ball
Under the Lift
Lifetime Rennlist
Member
 
Bill Ball's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2002
Location: Buckeye, AZ
Posts: 18,647
Received 49 Likes on 36 Posts
Default

The 928 rear-end, as attractive as that big, juicy butt is, is one of the biggest problems in terms or aerodynamics.

Somebody should come up with a Peter Brock-designed Cobra Daytona Coupe-style rear bumper cover. Brock based this on the aerodynamic ideas of Wunibald Kamm, and is called the Kamm-tail or Kammback. It was reported to have improved top speed and fuel economy by 25% over the more rounded earlier rear.

http://www.secondstrike.com/Coupe/Brock.htm

This back-end style is also seen on the Ferrari Dino.

If you've seen a 928 with the rear cover off, you'd see there is an opportunity to do this. The underlying structure is recessed quite a bit under the cover.
Old 10-16-2006, 06:59 PM
  #13  
mark kibort
Rennlist Member
 
mark kibort's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: saratoga, ca
Posts: 29,953
Received 170 Likes on 66 Posts
Default

frontal area of a truck will be more and that means the drag will be more too!

at the top speeds, its all about hp to drag ratio

mk
Old 10-16-2006, 07:48 PM
  #14  
marton
Drifting
 
marton's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2001
Location: zürich, switzerland
Posts: 2,233
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes on 0 Posts
Default

HTML Code:
Porsche 928 S
HTML Code:
0.30 - 0.40
The lower end looks very good versus the others but why such a wide range? It sort of damages the credibility of the numbers. Why should mine be 0.3 versus yours at 0.4; apart from the fact that I led a blameless life?

Marton
Old 10-16-2006, 07:49 PM
  #15  
ew928
Owns the Streets
Needs Camber
Lifetime Rennlist
Member
 
ew928's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2003
Location: New York
Posts: 10,292
Likes: 0
Received 1 Like on 1 Post
Default

The VW Golf (Rabbit) 928 experiment in Germany purported to have a higher
top speed than the 928. That was the widened Golf body with a 928 chassis wedged into it. The more aerodynamic Golf yielded higher top end speed.
Think it pi$$ed off lots of Merc/BMW/Porsche's to have this economy Golf come up on the Autobahn and give them a flash to pass high beam.

Ernest (NYC)
That'll be a cool car to have.
"But Ossifer. Everybody knows a Golf cannot go 140mph."


Quick Reply: Frontal area and CD of a Porsche 928 S4



All times are GMT -3. The time now is 12:10 AM.