<VV> Explanation of Drag Co efficientss

[NicolCS@aol.com]

OK...  Here's my shot at an explanation:
If you look at the frontal area of a car (think sillouette - roof top to 
bottom of tires), that image has a specific area, say 25 square feet.  If that 
area were a piece of flat plywood flying down the road, the drag coefficient 
would be 1.0, any improvement over that is a smaller number, so if the improved 
shape has half the drag, the Cd (Coefficient of drag) is 0.5.
AFIK, Corvairs are around 0.41-0.43.  Modern cars are around 0.3, give or 
take.  

The drag about drag is that cars with different sillouettes aren't comparable 
because their frontal areas are different.  A little tiny car with a Cd of 
0.5 might actually offer less wind resistance than a very large car with a Cd of 
0.3. You can't compare various car's Cds directly unless you compare cars 
with similar frontal areas.  For their time, Corvairs were pretty slippery.  
Compared to today's cars, Corvairs aren't so hot.
Hope that "clears the air" :)
Craig Nicol 

Hey guys,
Numbers from .30 to .40 have been suggested and a few in between.  Can 
someone give a simple explanation of it with some comparisons to other 
older/newer cars. Would help my feeble brain and my general laziness to 
explore it further on the internet.
Bill