Cars today are technological marvels. Systems that enable advanced technical calculations, your ideal car It provides important data about how it should be. Brands also act in accordance with the calculations, and they are both stylish and quiet. productive They can make cars.

One of the things that makes a car efficient, as you can imagine. aerodynamic coming. The deterioration of aerodynamics, which is critical to cars, has a direct impact on almost every aspect, from ride comfort to fuel. Let’s put this aerodynamics issue on the table.

Aerodynamics can be explained in language anyone can understand: the flow of air over something with the least amount of force.

The better the aerodynamics of an object, the lower the inefficiency caused by the airflow. It was already known that the weather affects everything that moves. Engineers who worked on the automotive industry also knew this. Mostly passion for speedThis led engineers to focus more on aerodynamic calculations.

In 1899, a car called La Jamais Contente was designed. This car It was “ugly” by design. However, it had a unique feature. La Jamais Contente was the first car to break the 100 km/h speed limit. He owed this characteristic to aerodynamic calculations.

La Jamais Contente

La Jamais Contente, one for the automotive industry revolution lay in nature. All the engineers who heard about this vehicle sprang into action to make faster cars. The Stanley Steamer Rocket, produced in 1906, was the first car to exceed 200 km/h.

Stanley Steamboat Rocket

The La Jamais Contente and the Stanley Steamer Rocket were special cars. For individual consumers The first study was done by a bus manufacturer called Castagna. Using the Alfa Romeo infrastructure, the 1914 model car was slow, despite being aerodynamic. Because in general had a heavy hood. It didn’t happen this time either…

Castagne Aerodinamica

produced in 1921 Tropfenwagen The car, on the other hand, was really aerodynamic. Tropfenwagen, which has a coefficient of friction of 0.28, Volkswagen PassatIt offered a coefficient of friction that was not available until 1988. However, this car did not last long. Controls and engine technical problemsled to the cessation of production of the car with the friction number, which is still considered good even today.

While the industry was looking for a solution to the aerodynamic problem, this time a Hungarian named Paul Jaray stepped in.

Jaray, who was involved in aviation and designed airships, even developed a special formula in 1922 and managed to find the ideal design needed to provide aerodynamics. This design It looked like the one above.

Jaray’s ideal aerodynamic design had odd proportions, as you can see above. Yes, vehicles of this design were good in terms of aerodynamics, but they didn’t look good. Many brands, especially Mercedes-Benz, Maybach and Opel, managed to update the design and the Jaray looks more stylish cars appeared.

A model in which Mercedes has taken over Jaray’s design

Many cars with similar designs have been produced over the years. In 1934 a revolutionary development took place. Czech car manufacturer Tatra, in its car called T77 0.21 coefficient of friction managed to see. This was very important. Because in those days when aerodynamics was not on the agenda, no one else had a car with such a low coefficient of friction. could not produce. Until 1939, that is.

Tatra T77

Tatra also used aerodynamics as a marketing tool. The photo below is the best example of this. It was impressively illustrated how cars with poor aerodynamics were blocked by the air:

In 1939 a prototype car was developed, called the Schlörwagen.

Schlörwagen

This car was built to demonstrate the ultimate in aerodynamics. With a coefficient of friction of 0.15, the car remained the most aerodynamic car in history until 1985. Ford Probe V, produced that year, broke Schlörwagen’s record with a coefficient of friction of 0.13. However, both models remained concepts. It never went into mass production.

Ford Probe V with a coefficient of friction of 0.13 looked like this:

The mass-produced car called EV-1 launched by General Motors in 1995, coefficient of friction 0.19 had enchanted the consumer. This vehicle was also unique for its time. It was also electric. But then”will end the oilThe EV-1, called ”, was sadly destroyed after 800 units had been produced.

After the 2000s, companies began to follow each other’s footsteps, emphasizing other features rather than aerodynamics. The coefficient of friction generally ranged from 0.21 to 0.30. Like Mercedes Benz MKN He saw a coefficient of friction of 0.200 in his electric car. This number, Tesla Model S It is chased by a coefficient of friction of 0.208.

Mercedes Benz EQS

• Sources: The truth about cars, Curbside classic, Wikipedia, Mercedes-Benz