Julian Edgar, 50, has been writing about car modification and automotive technology for nearly 25 years. He has owned cars with two, three, four, five, six and eight cylinders; single turbo, twin turbo, supercharged, diesel and hybrid electric drivelines. He lists his transport interests as turbocharging, aerodynamics, suspension design and human-powered vehicles.
Learning something new…
It’s easy to think that vehicle aerodynamics is an esoteric topic not really relevant to typical modified cars. After all, goes the common refrain, if you’re not driving at 150 km/h, who cares? That viewpoint can be supported by some recent Australian cars which seem to be developed more with styling in mind rather than slipping cleanly through the air – the latest Mitsubishi Magna didn’t see the inside of a wind tunnel and HSV products are now developed without tunnel testing.
However, to take that view would be short-sighted – as car manufacturers chase increasingly better fuel economy, you can be sure that low-drag aero will start making a comeback. Of course, for many manufacturers, aero attention never went away…