Land Rover Defender

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IIRC, the Cd of the Defender was circa 0.4 and the RR Sport circa 0.3. The difference (0.1) is ten times the reduction that gains 0.1mpg so a gain of 1mpg for a 25% reduction in Cd. The difference in mpg was significantly greater than that.
 
That's a question that rattles around my head. In a country (UK) with such low average journey speeds, just how important is good aero?
Difficult question to answer as there are so many variables. Harry, on his sking trip was possibly the worst case scenario to show up the difference.
A day spent travelling at 80ish mph and over 400miles vs lurking in the Cotswolds at probably no more than a 40 mph average in the RR Sport.
My own recent experience at Christmas spent 110 miles south west of us in the windy conditions resulted in 38 and 43 mpg there and back. That is with Macan with 0.35 cd. Remembering that the drag increases with the square of the speed, a 20mph headwind at 70mph increases the drag by 60%!
My old A8 with a 0.26 Cd was much less affected.
The other bit which Harry noticed, was the Defender was much more lively in cross winds. Yes, it had a little more side profile area, but generally more aerodynamic body has greater stability in adverse conditions.
You alone are the only one who can set your parameters for 'important' but it certainly becomes increasingly important as you approach Le Mans winning 135mph averages....including pit stops.
 
Difficult question to answer as there are so many variables. Harry, on his sking trip was possibly the worst case scenario to show up the difference.
A day spent travelling at 80ish mph and over 400miles vs lurking in the Cotswolds at probably no more than a 40 mph average in the RR Sport.
My own recent experience at Christmas spent 110 miles south west of us in the windy conditions resulted in 38 and 43 mpg there and back. That is with Macan with 0.35 cd. Remembering that the drag increases with the square of the speed, a 20mph headwind at 70mph increases the drag by 60%!
My old A8 with a 0.26 Cd was much less affected.
The other bit which Harry noticed, was the Defender was much more lively in cross winds. Yes, it had a little more side profile area, but generally more aerodynamic body has greater stability in adverse conditions.
You alone are the only one who can set your parameters for 'important' but it certainly becomes increasingly important as you approach Le Mans winning 135mph averages....including pit stops.
PS
Can you guess which of these JCB vehicles does over 50mph and which does over 350mph?
Frontal area can be quite important too.... 😁

Proper Pushtruck.jpg
 
.....and which one will fail the emissions test next MOT!!!???
 
.....and which one will fail the emissions test next MOT!!!???
That'll be the non road legal one! With injectors the size of bath taps, it's not at it's best on idle o_O
 
My D250 model (50bhp down on the video car) averages 32mpg according to the trip with a mixture of driving. Around town it's in the 20's.

I did a 200 mile trip yesterday cruising between 60-70mph and returned 40mpg. That was 75% motorway with just myself in the car and a set of wheels/tyres in the back.

It's better on fuel than what I was expecting, higher speed/consumption is to be expected with anything shaped like a brick.
 

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