Some of the threads I've read in the past mentioned that the S2000 has poor areodynamics in comparison with the 350Z...

Now, is this because of it being convertible? Or is it the general shape of the vehicle that puts it at a disadvantage? (if there is a disadvantage, is there anything to produce better aerodynamics to squeeze out better times?)

Any thoughts or recommended resources to check out? It seems odd that any car company would release a sports vehicle with poor dynamics.

 

my guess would be the aerodynamic of S2K is pretty bad cause of the angle of the wind shield. i thought i read about the coefficient before and it's something like 0.37 (0.38)?

with the top down, the aerodynamic will be even worse. (should be true for all convertable (maybe except 360 spyder ))

and have you notice how dirty the tail gets after each drive? it could be the tires are kicking so much dirt up or the air exiting the tail is really wild and bringing all the dirt up ...

 

The aerodynamics would probably get better with a hard top.

 

REAR AIR DIFFUSERS!

 

Most cars do that, it's because the air goes through both the top and bottom, the air on top tend to "curl back" to its original path, and all the brake dusts and dirt get carried back onto the rear bumper. It's hard to explain what that looks like.
A properly designed rear spoiler should change the direction of the air and as a side-effect blow much of the dusts away from the car. There are significantly less dust on my brother's 330Ci now that he installed the M lip spoiler, believe it or not.

I think overall the aerodynamics are acceptable for a convertible car. The stand-up windshield definitely does not help, nor the do the ridges on the soft top. I think the car can use more rear downforce.

I seriously doubt that by lowering the aerodynamic drag will help you accelerate faster on the drag strip. The drag is only felt at high speeds that your car probably won't see on the drag strip. I wouldn't worry about it.

 

i think our S have pretty bad aerodynamic, especially when you're driving fast... i mean 100+mph the wind noise is mostly because of the high angle windshield. i think the reason for that is honda wants to mimic the shape of the classic convertible S500 & S600.
compare w/ the 350Z and the new G35 coupe, which have pretty low coefficient drag ( i believe it's around 0.27) even the LS430 has lower coefficient drag than our car!!

 

To add to JL's explanation...

Plastic bumpers and spinning metal/rubber objects have an interesting little side-effect...they tend to create a lot of static charge. After some serious driving, the rear bumper will tend to have a nice negative charge on it, enough to really get those fine dust particles to stick to it. Most newer cars will have this problem since they have plastic bumpers...

 

i thought about it and i really like the top secret one



but i have doubt to spend $1k+ for some unproven add-on ...

and how its going to affect the diff. temp?

very little have experience with it (or want to talk about it )

 

It's definitely the angle of the windshield that makes the aerodynamics bad. Even with a hartop, it's not going to make much difference on the coefficient of drag.

I switch cars back and forth between my S2K and Prelude. The angle of the windshield is so much lower than in the S2K. The S2K windshield is practically straight up, when compared to the one on my Prelude.

 

I believe the windshield (frame) angle might, also, have something to do with safety in a roll over. If it were slanted more, the frame might collapse.