Just curious... i hear the CLS is 0.32, whats the CD for the TLS? The same?

 

Should be since they're almost identical.

 

I think it was
0.33

Anyone have a press release?

 

before the flame can someone define CD for me? like how many G's our cars can drag pull?

 

Look at the tile. "Coefficient of drag" HMMM!! Maybe what you were asking is what does it mean? This is a rating of how slipper or aerodynamic an object is. The smaller the number the better. The larger the number, the more drag. More drag means less speed and slower accelration.

 

No, the coefficient of drag is a number that tells you how much drag (i.e. decelerating force) you will experience as a function of speed.

Drag force = Coefficient of Drag * speed^2

The smaller the number, the less drag you'll feel at a given speed. Note too that the drag force increases to the square of speed, so it becomes very important at higher speeds.

 

Wow, we got some smart people here.... who says that you got to school to learn something... come here instead...

 

Something tells me that the smart people here learned about Cd in school to begin with...

 

Damn,

Speak english mofo.

:p

 

oh ok, so now i know what it is. but for reference are there numbers for some other cars so i can know how "good" or "bad" our cars are?

 

haha ours arent that great... since the maxima SE's CD is .31!!! :wow: I dont understand how that ugly, opps i mean boxy car gets those numbers.


Also no one really answered me... is the TLS cd for sure .33??

 

If I remember right, the LS430, believe it or not, has the lowest Cd for a sedan, and that's 0.25. I think the Cd on my GS430 is about 0.27-0.28 which is also considered pretty slippery. The G35 is 0.27 without the aero package and 0.26 with the aero package. I don't have any numbers for exotics, but would imagine they can get into the very low 0.2 or even high 0.1 range.

If the TL-S is in the 0.30-0.35 range, that's not sports car-great, but not bad by a long shot...

 

The Lexus LS430 has a Cd of 0.26 which "ties" with the Honda Insight for most aerodynamic production car (I think these two are still on top). Two vastly different designs, to say the least.

 

oh wow, i really can't believe the gs430 has that low of a cd

oh then btw, does the body kits or spoiler of our cars help anything at all?!?! i guess not?

 

And you can believe that the LS430, a virtual shoebox on wheels, has the lowest Cd of production cars?! It's all about wind tunnel testing, I guess...

 

oh yeah that's so true.... i thought the car has to look very aerodynamic to have a chance of getting a small cd... guess it NOT the case at all....

so anyone knows if our "aerodynamic parts" help the cd?

 

I still don't understand why the LS430 has 0.25 of Cd.

It is big, square, heavy....than the TL-S.
Is is that its paint is silkier...or has a Cd helper additive?

Somebody help me please. :p

 

Okay well frontal area hurts your drag. So to help aid drag, you want to design your car like a teardop. The LS 430 (and Lexus cars in general) have wide fronts but taper slightly to the rear.

2nd, the undercarriage, a flat undercarriage (no pipes hanging down, the oli pan etc) aids wind. Like your current Tl's (well sort of) all Lexus vehicles have a flat undercarriage. Black Plastic covers most of the engine compartment under the engine. This helps wind.

Design, flush glass, minimal scoops and air vents, the rear bumper, make sure the wind glides off and does not create lift (spolers help race cars in this area, not for us folks doing 80mph on the highway), sideview mirrors, wheel design.

The corvette is an example of wind testing gone wrong. Sure the car has low drag (.29) but the rear is horrible IMO.

The less drag, the quieter and more fuel efficient your car can be.

:smokin:

 

Oops, I messed up. The correct equation is...

Drag force = 0.5 * air density * cross-section area * Coefficient of Drag * speed^2

Cd does make a significant impact on fuel efficiency. A car that has a Cd of 0.3 consumes 20% more energy overcoming drag (air resistance) than one that has a Cd of 0.25 at any significant speeds, given that they have the same cross-section area.

 

Yeah, yeah, CD is great to know but the frontal area is the other important part. Sure the LS400 has a great CD, but its frontal area is 28 sq ft or so. Multiply .25 * 28 and you get 7, the total drag number. Multiply a car like the Vette with a CD of .29 * 22 sq ft and you get 6.30, about 10% better than the LS400. CD doens't mean squat without considering the frontal area.

BTW, most exotic cars have terrible CD figures, the Diablo is around .40, but its frontal area is very small. Ferraris have decent CD considering they do have some downforce at speed. 911s are decent too, but don't have the engineered in downforce to help stability.

Like someone mentioned, the underside is just as important as the top, but the lower the front spoiler to the ground (thereby letting less air in), the less it matters. :smokin:

 

I watched a Lexus documentary a while back on how they did this...it was fascinating, they collaborated with the engineers who designed the high speed Bullet trains. Its all about airflow management...they did not leave even one body part that did not scientifically control the airflow including the suspension..incredible

I believe the new G35 has a Cd of .27 or .28

 

Although this is true, Cd is still a meaningful figure when comparing similar cars. A TL, an ES 300, and a BMW 3 series probably have similar frontal areas, +/- 10% or so.

 

Hey doesn't the new infiniti G35 have a CD of .26 with the aero kit.