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Regarding the C7, I think it is an overall excellent looking car, but several details have always bothered me about it. The large, plain, front opening (fixed on the ZR-1 finally, and greatly improved on the Z06 with some simple grille changes), the hood vent that never seemed well integrated, the extreme angle on the front side vents, the Alice Cooper tail-light vents (the lights themselves are awesome IMO), and the vents on the rear shoulder.
Many of those features didn't seem to integrate well with the rest of the vehicle IMO, but overall the car is great.
I am hoping the ME Vette can maintain the aggressive overall look, while cleaning up some of the vents and making them look better integrated with the rest of the car. So far I think the various renders are looking very promising, even if the details are still guesses. I have strong feelings the final result will look very good. There are many aspects to the shape that I like better than the images of the 488 (the shoulder vent in the 488 looks very funky to me).
I do think the Ford GT is a great example of a fluidity of design where the vents seem totally integrated into the overall theme. It is by far the best looking mid-engine car right now IMO. I am hopeful that GM will pull off a similarly cohesive mix of elegance and aggression.
-T
Last edited by Trackaholic; 03-10-2018 at 02:48 AM.
I have really appreciated following this thread, and there are certainly many here much wiser than I am, and many with far greater talent (and tools) for rendering speculative designs for the C8. FSV, fantastic efforts! I am impressed by your skills...others have made some great observations.
Although rudimentary, I used the touchpad on my laptop in MS Paint (it's all I have) to make a few changes, based mostly on the pictures of the front and rear panels from the infamous paint-shop post. I believe the version of FSV's rendering that I marked up is more accurate than his latest version, where he erroneously added shading to the sill on the rocker panel just below the air inlet, an area of the design which has certainly been the subject of spirited debate. In looking at the "Paint Shop" panels, I noticed what appears to be a cantilevered fin integrated into the rear facade, starting at the corners and becoming more pronounced as it approached the INTEGRATED third brake lamp. Notice also that the top edge of the rear facade is basically on the horizontal, unlike the latest rear view ME renderings in FSV's posts here. Also, the rear lights appear to contract in size toward the mid-line of the rear facade, and maybe even cant forwards as they approach mid-line from their outer edges (near the rear corner panels). Does this make sense? I couldn't draw it in paint...
You can see in my marked up FVS drawing that the front facade shows a thinned lower lip of the central air inlet (based on the paint shop panel picture), which yields a more substantial center opening, as well as thinner lower jaw, if you will, underneath each of the side inlets. I also made the side inlets wider based on observed proportions in the shop pic. Noticing the notch in the lower edge of the side inlets (circled in the photo), I thought that it may be for a LED DRL or fog lamp of some sort - which I drew in for review and comment. Could be something else? I also drew in a central spine on the front opening, based on what I see of one in the shop picture. It may only be a throw-away piece meant to stiffen up the panel before assembly? I welcome your comments...
Again, my drawing is very rough, so please forgive the lack of clean lines. I have noticed in the CAD images and overhead spy shots that the windshield's lower edge and cowl have a pronounced curve, so I attempted to add that curve to FSV's rendering. I then corrected the curve of the air vent in the hood to match the intersection of FSV's curve with hood contours on the far side of the hood view (to create more symmetry in the rendering). I believe that the A-pillars and roof will be in body color (I could only do the A-Pillars in yellow) to better balance with the proportions of the large HORIZONTAL rear deck, wide hips, and, if the drawing is accurate, large panel space between the side air inlet opening and the leading edge of the rear wheel well (I personally believe that there is less panel space there than what is drawn, but we'll have to wait on that detail). FSV, maybe you can change the roof to body color to see what it looks like, if you agree?
I also attempted to create a more pronounced curve on the top edges of both the front and rear quarter panels. Proportion-wise, I am not sure there is such a large panel space between the top of the front wheel well and the top edge of the quarter panel above it. Most mid-engined cars have a much smaller panel space there. I increased the opening inside the side inlet - maybe a carbon fiber insert (I tried to draw it in charcoal). After carefully inspecting waaaay too many spy photos, I increased the size of the side windows. The camo'd cars block part of the window on the bottom edge in almost every shot online, except for a couple. Looking at the rear quarter panel where it joins the rear facade panel, I changed the light contour and rear decklid slightly to create more dynamics in the shape. Feel free to disagree or critique. Lastly, I tried to draw in a subtle front brake vent in the aft of the front wheel well. It may not be accurate.
Let me know what you think folks. Thanks for such a fun thread!
First. Thanks for your great work, FVS. Just because I'm not always happy with the result, doesn't mean I think your efforts are not outstanding.Here's a detail from the Pimp's descriptions that may fundamentally change the look--even though it seems small at first. I was confused about his admonition to "look at the rear scoops from the front." (Paraphrasing) But as I look at the LaFerrari which he referenced, I think (hope) I get it...
The rear scoops, though substantial in size and depth, don't extend beyond the sides of the breadth of the main body boundary. Their depth is integral to the body, meaning the depth comes from how far they intrude toward the middle of the car, from the outside boundary line.
So if you look at the car from the front, you don't see the scoops, even though they're quite deep. That means there is a substantial shelf on top of the midsection of the car, including the door. Kind of a coke bottle that starts halfway up from the sill.
Take a hard look at the midsection, scoop, back end integration of the LaFerrari. Integrate that with your renderings and I think that will also solve the mismatch of the front to the back.
Thanks!
Styling is one thing, but if you seek explanations of airflow, these are not the members with whom you should confer. My biggest beef with this forum are the pretenders who post with impunity. It is unfair to others. If you don't hear from me, the authorities have seen fit to give me another vacation. Cut and paste immediately.
" I look forward to more comments and descriptions and guidance to make further modifications if necessary to get a closer the presentation of the ME. Any further details or corrections offered will be incorporated into the renderings. "
This statement is entirely disingenuous. Him and his best friend are master pseudo aerodymamicists. They will respond to your query in an appalling unscientific manor that will most surely contradict what you have observed..
May I refer you to posts: 623, 624 and 629 for evidence of such behaviour. Neither genius can offer an explanation as to this detail that ACS has captured with some modicum of understanding despite several attempts of inquiry.
They can't understand boundary layer attachment and the numerous methods of generating such upstream events that perform this duty, particularly down the side of a car.
03-10-2018, 02:39 AM
