Friday, October 18, 2013

How to reduce air resistance in a vehicle?

The air resistance of a vehicle depends on three factors. These are shape of the vehicle, surface finish and speed o the vehicle with respect to the air. Out of these three factors the most important factors is the shape of the vehicle. This is almost entirely determined by the vehicle manufacturer. The user of the vehicle has limited control over this in form of external accessories fitted on the vehicle. Any luggage carrier fitted on top of a car or other vehicle can increase air resistance significantly, particularly if luggage has been loaded. Keeping the windows of the vehicle open amounts to changing the shape of the vehicle, and tends to increase air resistance.


The relative speed of vehicle, particularly at high speed also has significant effect on air resistance. However it is not a practical solution to keep the speed of vehicle low just to reduce air resistance.


A smoother surface offers less resistance to air. Therefor, one can keep the vehicle well painted and polished to keep the air resistance low.

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