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Aeroscreen and aerodynamics.


stormcp

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Hi Guys,

I have (for the first time) taken my windscreen off and went out for a blast today (with crash helmet). I have no aeroscreen or mirrors and just wanted to see the difference. Blimey it was mad, much quicker and much more fun. But the wind was incredible, my head was pinned back to the roll bar if i went over 70-80 and I could hardly concentrate with the crash helmet knocking against it and if I turned my head to overtake it would nearly break my neck!

 

If I fit an RIF aeroscreen and mirrors ect, will it resolve most the the wind resistance on the crash helmet... or not make much difference?

I am 6ft 2, so will be fairly high.

I hope this is not a silly question.

Cheers

Matt

 

Yellow Blur!

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Matt - not at all - I did exactly the same a couple of years ago and found that with no screen it was amazing fur for about 2 minutes, then pure pain!

 

I took the plunge and went Brooklands in my case and have never looked back however - go for it!

 

Michael.

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Yes, they are - I managed it for my SV *biggrin*

 

Doing it again, I would start with the centre fixing rather than the two main holes at the windscreen fixing point to ensure there are no draughts under the screen!

 

For the mirrors, measure the mirror heights carefully so you can see behind clearly. The RIF mirrors I was supplied with are not strictly road legal though as they are - I can't see me going back to the windscreen & sidescreens

 

Large viperblue/yellow 1.6 S/S

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An aero screen is easy to fit. This gives you an idea here. In addition you would have to drill holes in the screen for the main bolts to the scuttle, but this is not difficult.

There is vibration at speed with the screen in place but it is nothing like a screenless car (I've tried) *eek*

Can certainly confirm the RIF screen is good for the job- would suggest the taller model though 😬

Neil

 

Orange SUPERLIGHT R300

Perms a speciality, OAP discounts on Wednesday.

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Go with the standard one, low one is for short people or for a lowered floor. Yes it will drastically reduce the buffeting. Fitting takes a while but is simple.

 

"The RIF mirrors I was supplied with are not strictly road legal though as they are *confused* *confused* First I have heard??? Can you give me any more info *confused*

 

Richard in France

Flying fast in my very bright yellow 226bhp Duratec 7, with internal kevlar/carbon panels and pushrod suspension 😬 😬 😬.for pictures of 7 and carbon

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MOT manual words on mirrors are here, no mention of a minimum area. For a post 78 car you need a drivers mirror plus either a centre mirror or a passenger side mirror (but not both). Only relevant failure is "does not provide a view to the rear of the vehicle". I guess a really small mirror could fall foul of this with a pednatic MOT man.

 

So once more we're in the grey area between SVA rules for new cars and MOT rules for exisitng cars. I think adrains comment is too black and white. They may not be SVA compliant but as they meet MOT rules then doesn't that mean they are road legal?

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Without wishing to get embroiled in complex legal or other arguements, I think most car mirrors in the EU comply with Community Directive 71/127 (and its amendments), where it seems that the application of the various rules in the Annexes results in a reflective area of at least 100cm2. (Convex sizing may be slightly different.) Hence the size of most mirrors you see on the road. Of course this directive is all about Type Complience, not SVA.

 

The mirrors I supplied with my aero were of a smaller size, although they may in fact be legal.

The effect on track is negligible but is noticable on say the busy M25 because the field of view is smaller.

Once you get used to it its fine, and I am still not changing my RiF aero

 

Large viperblue/yellow 1.6 S/S

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I found that with or without aeroscreens made little difference to the buffeting. See http://members.tripod.com/jatrichardson/Caterham240701/aeroscreen_closeup_hires.html for pics. What did make the difference was using half-height doors – or in my case, since I’m a cheapskate, the tonneau cover folded in half. That made a HUGE difference, and facilitated my blatting over to the Nurburgring last summer. There I found that the buffeting stopped almost entirely over 100mph, and was replaced by a slight but distinct upward pull on my helmet (open-face headgear type, not…). Anyway, that’s a whole other story…

 

Other Q: how do you put hypertext links into postings? I tried and failed, above.

 

 

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Can confirm that the RiF standard aeroscreen will make a tremendous difference.

 

I am 6ft tall with leather seats fitted. There is very little buffeting even at speeds over 100mph. If you lift your hand you reach a point a few inches above your head where it just about rips it off.

 

Go for it *thumbup*

 

Steve

Superlight #63

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JATR, look here for the link, and other, methods of posting.

 

RiF aero is buffet free for me. At 120 there is a stiff wind streaming past but not strong enough to cause me a problem. If I lift my hand to my forehead it's same. Lift it above forehead and the force nearly breakes it off!

 

I took the roll bar off for a yera or so and it was better. HM's naggd me into putting it back on now.

 

If your sitting too high see if you can adjust the pedals lower so as to slide down to lower head height. see here for head height (bottom picture)

 

Norman Verona, 1989 BDR 220bhp, Mem No 2166, the full story

here

 

Forgot to say that with a helmet on the height is just a bit more and the wind is tugging at the helmet which causes neck ache on long trips.

 

Edited by - nverona on 16 Nov 2004 14:21:30

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Pierre, it was one of his first so i guess it's "normal" (it's the owner thats not).

 

I'm about 5' 10" (sorry don't know what that is in funny money).

 

I adjust my height in the car by adjustment to rake of seat and getting the pedals as low as possible by fitting different pushrods to master cylinders and making a new throttle pedal. I think the correct sitting positon would be higher.

 

Norman Verona, 1989 BDR 220bhp, Mem No 2166, the full story here

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