Lets talk side mirrors!

[SA E30]

Def looking for a more aerodynamic solution.

[SA E30]

I took the ones apart on the race car, and honestly I didn't even see a need to take the motor out it was that light.

[nando]

Anyone have one laying around? Mine are power.. so motors, wire/switch, + mirror itself.
I've seen aftermarket mirrors that are <1lbs ea. Not very useful but if you're fast.. :)

I've taken them off before, the motor doesn't weigh much.

[McGyver]

that is actually kinda surprising i always just assumed we literally drove bricks

i dont drive a volvo?

[j0oftheworld]

Anyone have one laying around? Mine are power.. so motors, wire/switch, + mirror itself.
I've seen aftermarket mirrors that are <1lbs ea. Not very useful but if you're fast.. :)

[325ix]

i'd be really surprised if there was a significant weight saving. maybe 1 lb or so. but 5-7 lbs? no way. aerodynamically, sure - the E30 mirrors are wide and flat.

The stock mirrors weigh very little to begin with. Any gains would be aerodynamically.

[nando]

i'd be really surprised if there was a significant weight saving. maybe 1 lb or so. but 5-7 lbs? no way. aerodynamically, sure - the E30 mirrors are wide and flat.

[j0oftheworld]

Ya, that corvette pictured above has "gapless" windows/panels etc, flared fenders, and the body is "massaged" to funnel air over/under it in all the right places.
Not a fair comparison to a road going E30 chassis but I was using it to prove how any flat protruding surface is going to be red.

I'm going to try to find and aftermarket mirror that bolts up and see how mush weight/area it saves. Just surprised there isn't more people chiming in w. aftermarket mirrors in here?

[5KWattson]

there is a lot more to the Cd than just the number... it matters where that drag is used.

rx8 = .31
f430 f1 = .34

the rx8 in stock body form. that is, not lowered, not kitted, no lip, etc. gets really floaty above 140mph. too much air gets underneath it.

the f430 on the other hand, is designed so a lot of that drag is used as downforce to keep the car planted. a higher Cd does not mean much unless you understand the entire picture. look at that spoiler on the race corvette above. its one gigantic red mark. it adds huge amounts of drag. but its extremely beneficial to keeping the car planted at high speeds.

if it looks like a brick..

sir im going to say your past post was null in void for the pure fact that every rx8 driver here has a giant tampon up their ass. im writing RX8's off all together

[5KWattson]

that is actually kinda surprising i always just assumed we literally drove bricks

[Kershaw]

there is a lot more to the Cd than just the number... it matters where that drag is used.

rx8 = .31
f430 f1 = .34

the rx8 in stock body form. that is, not lowered, not kitted, no lip, etc. gets really floaty above 140mph. too much air gets underneath it.

the f430 on the other hand, is designed so a lot of that drag is used as downforce to keep the car planted. a higher Cd does not mean much unless you understand the entire picture. look at that spoiler on the race corvette above. its one gigantic red mark. it adds huge amounts of drag. but its extremely beneficial to keeping the car planted at high speeds.

if it looks like a brick..

[dnova89]

haha, the drag coefficient of an e30 is actually less than that of a corvette surprisingly. there was a few threads discussing it a while ago. they're not actually bricks after all.

edit: here's one of the threads i was talking about:

http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=290933

[e34john]

Are you trying to compare the aerodynamics of an E30 against a brand new Corvette?

[ck_taft325is]

Very good point! Stick your arm out at 100+ and you might hurt yourself!
I know that mirrors in the USA at least, need to be pretty tall/wide so you have a decent viewing area. DOT laws. Just compare a prototype to the real thing once.

Here's the C6R CFD image.. so you could imagine how bad a road car would be..
Red high pressure spots all over!
Mirrors/ fender lips/ antenna/ wipers/ etc..

That's bad ass. I've never seen something like that before.

[j0oftheworld]

Very good point! Stick your arm out at 100+ and you might hurt yourself!
I know that mirrors in the USA at least, need to be pretty tall/wide so you have a decent viewing area. DOT laws. Just compare a prototype to the real thing once.

Here's the C6R CFD image.. so you could imagine how bad a road car would be..
Red high pressure spots all over!
Mirrors/ fender lips/ antenna/ wipers/ etc..