Things I Wish I Had Learned Sooner
Most people are idiots when it comes to aerodynamics. I know; I'm an idiot too. I used to think I "knew" about aerodynamics because I had read a lot of things by posters on the Ecomodder forum, looked at a few cars at auto shows, and used terms like "Kammback" and "pressure recovery"—but without actually knowing the first thing about the science of aerodynamics. Did any of these modifications reduce drag? Probably, based on the car's long-term fuel economy. How much? I have no way of knowing since it was all done by guess. In the last couple of years, I've gone back to school to get a degree in aerospace engineering. I've read fluid mechanics and aerodynamics textbooks and journal articles. I've taken coursework in compressible and incompressible flows, flight mechanics, CFD, and applied aerodynamics. And most importantly, I've spent the last several years figuring out how to test things myself on my own cars, building interesting...