I've often wondered about this, why aren't cars dimpled? You've probably asked yourself this a hundred times! Manufacturers spend millions trying to make cars areodynamic, shave a bit off there add a splitter here. The lovely Peugot above might be very good for clearing snow, but does it slip through the air as cleanly as, say, a golf ball?!
Golf balls used to be smooth and made of leather. People (if that's what you can call golfers) noticed that the older balls with the dents & nicks in them went much further. The modern golf ball with it's dimples goes up to 80% further than a perfectly smooth one. So, my thinking is that a dimpled car would go much faster!
I suppose dimples have never been applied to conventional cars because they are made of metal and it would take a long time to get the dimpled effect (anyone having watched the episode of "Father Ted" with the raffle car will already know this!) Although if you regularly park in Sainsburys car park you may already have the beginnings of the dimple effect on many of your side panels! BUT, if you take a plastic bodied car the dimples could simply be moulded. The Smart car is perfect, plastic panels which simply bolt on and off. Ahh.. but I here you ask, do I go down the icoshedral or the octohedral route, and, should I exceed the 0.38cm diameter threshhold? Well, I'll leave that up to you!
If you have a hail damaged car, let me know, was it faster before or after...
1 comment:
Ok, only you would think of that!
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