I've always thought E30s were bricks, but on another forum somebody just quoted a drag coefficient of .31 for a plain-jane E30. I know a Prius has a drag coefficient of ~.27, so I am wondering if E30s are actually fairly aerodynamic.
Anybody know anything about aerodynamics?
Nice summary w/ tons of examples of other cars & Cds:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automobile_drag_coefficient#Typical_values_and_examples
This chart says the Cd is 0.33, although I don't know how valid it is: http://www.mayfco.com/bmw.htm
maybe people refer to them as bricks b/c of shape? :)
Or you can refer to my buddy Andre's E30
I think it was Audi, with the "original" 100, that got folks thinking/talking about aerodynamics (again?). That car had a cd in the low .33 area....a number the original Taurus bested. There have been many cars that looked like "bricks" that had low cd numbers....but just as important as cd is the total frontal area. That's why the original Honda Insight, the 1st gen. Prius, and most Porsches, are very aerodynamic and in the case of the Japanese cars mentioned need very few horsepower to get them moving and keep them moving.
BUT, the really short answer? E-30s LOOK like bricks, and if you get one with a 4 cylinder or the eta engine, and automatic transmission...it will move like a brick.
I think I found an interesting stat that the E36 Cd isn't better than the E30's, depending on the model. E30's have relatively small frontal area, helped by how narrow they are.
I was reading on the Tucker the other day, it had a Cd of.27, which they rounded up to .30 in the product literature.
