Gdog

The May 2010 issue of Automobile Magazine has an extensive writeup on the Porsche concept XG10 also unofficially known as the 918 Spyder. This is a hybrid with a 3.4 liter V-8 with 495 hp and three electric motors on board that add an additional 215 hp. Projected to get 78 mpg.

One of the first things I learned in business school is to never believe your own press releases. I'll wait and see if they ever produce the car.

But of interest was the touting of the speed of the 918 beating the currently produced Carrera GT. One of the reasons, says Porsche engineer Gernot Dollner, was that the drag coefficient of the proposed 918 was lower than the GT--.34 for the 918 versus .39 for the Carrera GT.

Should somebody tell him the drag coefficient of the 964 is a paltry .32? It's cool to think that a 21-year old vehicle has a lower drag coefficient than the latest green machine proposed by Porsche.

cmat

I suspect that the newer cars have much higher down force which has the disadvantage of increasing the drag coeficient.

LastMezger

+1 and it likely has much wider tires too which really doesn't help.

964Q

Is the 0.32 drag coefficient with the tail up or down?

Jack667

and a Honda Odyssey is .30


according to wikipedia/wiki/Automobile_drag_coefficient

LastMezger

Makes sense given the long flat sides and relatively narrow tires.

warmfuzzies

Isn't drag relative to desire? hence why the Honda would be so low?




kevin