Borealis Velomobile Stretched

Attempting to improve aerodynamics, added nose cone, windshield with canopy, and some tail work using tape and foam. Ignore tape and foam on top - this was the previous location of the video camera.

New camera location is in front of the windshield. Sorry about wind noise. Rolling speed was about 40 mph before a traffic light. Nose cone improved handling at higher speeds and faster times.

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• Velomobiles
• velomobile
• Borealis

[mbgreenwald]

The nose on the Borealis is significantly taller and less pointy - I would prefer a smaller front profile - it already has a sharp rear to lessen drag. Other drag is the rear view mirrors and taller head bump which is missing on the Quest. The Quest is wider but shorter up front and a sleeker profile.  Since human powered effort has limits (mine) I found I can not sustain faster speeds without the nose cone, but found I could sustain longer and faster with it.

[mbgreenwald]

I kindly disagree. Put a 2 x 2 ft square board on the front of the velo and go downhill vs. take it off. The pointy nose wins hands down as I have already proved it. The current designs of the 3rd generation Borealis are even wider and slower as they have a larger frontal area to accommodate Trice wider trike. They don't make the narrower QNT any more. It seems the 3rd Generation Borealis is a commuting vehicle in rain or shine conditions with comfort, but a Go1 Evo it is not.

[mbgreenwald]

You are right. No suspension up front, elastomer in back helps but shocks all around would be nice if they didn't add so much weight. The video camera has no stabilization and looks bad. Sorry. New cameras out now are much better. Nose cone weighs 6 lbs. - can be done for 3 lbs but carbon fiber re-do is out of my budget at this time. It shows the aerodynamics improve with a smaller footprint in the front. Some increased side -t o-side in winds above 15 mph. Definite speed increase noted.

[GuyFawkes40]

Wow great...a bunch of duct tape and plastic...Yeah!

[NeilBlanchard]

@mbgreenwald

A flat plate has lots of drag -- the Cd is 1 by definition. And it is mostly the turbulence behind that causes the drag. A blunt front that *smoothly transitions* to the tapered rear provides the lowest drag. Look at the Quest for an example of this. If the are flow remains attached and stays smooth, and closes back together in the back with a little wake turbulence as possible, then it will have low drag. Having the blunt nose creates some "spring" and actually helps.

Neil

[NeilBlanchard]

A pointy nose doesn't really help the aerodynamics, unless you are going above 250MPH. The taper in the back is where you can reduce drag. You can do tuft testing (short yarn pieces taped to the shell) to see where the flow is attached (good) and where it is detached and turbulent.

Neil

[edwardreid]

no suspension. Better find a way to do that as vibration will tear your body up after some use. Most of Mine had suspention and it really helps with road imperfections,especially with thin tyres....Otherwise, pretty good effort!

[CellCoachCom]

Please report back with results... my impression is that your nose cone will help.

Jeff in Tucson