Call me stupid but I don't know what this is
Discussion
Hey all,
Sorry for what might appear an easy thing to answer for some, but I have no idea.
What is the small piece of plastic that seems to appear on the front of newer cars just in front of the front wheel? they are only about an inch thick by around 6 inches depending on the car, is it an aero thing or some sort of brake cooler?
Sorry for what might appear an easy thing to answer for some, but I have no idea.
What is the small piece of plastic that seems to appear on the front of newer cars just in front of the front wheel? they are only about an inch thick by around 6 inches depending on the car, is it an aero thing or some sort of brake cooler?
lickatysplit said:
Hey all,
Sorry for what might appear an easy thing to answer for some, but I have no idea.
What is the small piece of plastic that seems to appear on the front of newer cars just in front of the front wheel? they are only about an inch thick by around 6 inches depending on the car, is it an aero thing or some sort of brake cooler?
Mini mud flap.Sorry for what might appear an easy thing to answer for some, but I have no idea.
What is the small piece of plastic that seems to appear on the front of newer cars just in front of the front wheel? they are only about an inch thick by around 6 inches depending on the car, is it an aero thing or some sort of brake cooler?
lickatysplit said:
Hey all,
Sorry for what might appear an easy thing to answer for some, but I have no idea.
What is the small piece of plastic that seems to appear on the front of newer cars just in front of the front wheel? they are only about an inch thick by around 6 inches depending on the car, is it an aero thing or some sort of brake cooler?
Front mud guard?Sorry for what might appear an easy thing to answer for some, but I have no idea.
What is the small piece of plastic that seems to appear on the front of newer cars just in front of the front wheel? they are only about an inch thick by around 6 inches depending on the car, is it an aero thing or some sort of brake cooler?
Most commonly called "tyre deflectors", yep, they're a drag reduction device.
It's quite counter-intuitive as most designs look very bluff and like they'd cause a huge amount of drag themselves, but they're designed to direct flow away from the rotating tyre, which is very disruptive to flow structure. Most cars have them at the rear wheels too. They've been around for years - my E36 has them - but are increasingly common with tighter focus on fuel economy targets. They can reduce front lift quite a bit as well.
This image shows the rather huge ones fitted ahead of the new Qashqai's front wheels.
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It's quite counter-intuitive as most designs look very bluff and like they'd cause a huge amount of drag themselves, but they're designed to direct flow away from the rotating tyre, which is very disruptive to flow structure. Most cars have them at the rear wheels too. They've been around for years - my E36 has them - but are increasingly common with tighter focus on fuel economy targets. They can reduce front lift quite a bit as well.
This image shows the rather huge ones fitted ahead of the new Qashqai's front wheels.
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