RoofRack Deflectors

No- not a speedway car. However the priciple follows a lot of my time setting up Formula race cars.
I'd say your setup would be well on the way for efficiency.

Not necessarily that "any wind deflector at any angle has got to be better than non (sic) at all". With boxes and jerrys on the rack you are in fact cutting down all that turbulance created by the cross bars and (if you have it) mesh floor of the rack.
More turbulance is created with an empty rack, especially if the cross bars are of square section.

ok, fair call. I don't know about these things - it just seemed to me that a loaded rack would have more wind resistance than an empty one re: surface area.

HIJACK

hey moggs. ever heard of issues with the genuine Nissan immobilizer? Wifes is fubar, nissan says $1000's to fix.
It will open door, but not unimmobilize the donk - EG car wont start.. New batteries in remotes, and both remotes do the same.

They said to go to "a mate of mine who is an auto spark".. in otherwords gettin work for a mate of theirs..

Thoughts?

Hi there Truckster. No, have never heard of anyone with a Pathy having problems with the imobiliser. What year and model is your wife's Pathy? Mine is a 99 ST, which means the imobiliser is Nissan and the central locking is after market - if yours is a pre 2003 model ST it might be the same - might explain why the central locking is working independant of the imobiliser. I'll check with a few guys on the Pathy forum who used to work at Nissan and see what they have to say about the problem. I'll get back to you.

Hi Truckster, I asked re the above on the Pathy forum. No-one has ever had an issue with their immobiliser on a Pathy as far as I can tell. The only real suggestions they had was 1. to check if it plays up at different locations - one of the guys (Jimmy) reckons he has seen immobilisers play up in some areas due to radio interference. 2. Replace the immobiliser with an aftermarket one (like Zylux) for $300-$400. I have had a Zylux in mine for 6 years without issue - is an immobiliser and does the central locking. Good luck with it! (sorry about the hijack in this thread)

Thanks Moggs.
Where did you get your xylophone thingy from, how hard to fit?

Local Nissan dealer didnt even move the car when we took it there! But had the car all day...

Ive been contemplating a wind deflector now that my basket is pemanently on the roof. I will move the spare from under the rear and put it in the basket where it acts as a ground anchor.
Using a solar panel as a wind deflector sounds like a great idea as I also have a Pirahna isolator which accepts a solar panel charge. What wattage panel did you use and how did you attach it?

Geez Richard, now you're stretching my memory. I installed it in 1996. From memory, and I sold the car 7 odd years ago.

it was a 65W or 75W panel about 1100mm*500mm and it came with wiring diagrams and a solar regulator to allow you to join it into the 12V system. It was easy enough for me to follow anyway. I just plugged it into a cigarette lighter plug in the rear of the car which was attached to a deep cycle battery. That battery only ran the fridge and a fluoro and it coped for 14 weeks with no problems.

I seem to recall the solar panel put out about 17V and 4.5A. I purchased it from the Bias Boating Warehouse catalogue and it was about $600+. Actually, I have their latest catalogue and there is an 80W BP Solar unit for $718.00 - 1210mm*537mm - could be a bit wide for many vehicles. The Rangey was a wider than Japanese vehicle and it handled the 1100*500 easily. There is an 1110*502 65W unit (must be the one I had) for $570.

Sorry probably not much help, but there has been a lot of water under the bridge since that trip.

I can't imagine how much air would be buffering around in that!!

I think it needs some of those little Formula 1 side wings to stablise it.

Wolfie, you win. I bet half the blokes here dont have a clue what you're talking about. LOL

Klaus

Think of a 75 - 100 mm. diameter tube, in front of your rack, like a roller. Not unlike the ladder rollers you'd commonly see on the rear of say, a Telstra van.

Now, this roller is motor driven, so that it ti turns in a clockwise direction if you are looking at it from the left hand side of the vehicle.

This has the same effect as a wing, which gives a low & high pressure area above & below. The areas can be rotated around the tube by simply adjusting the speed of rotation to suit.

Google the term, and you may also happen to see Jaques Costeau's ship, the "Calypso" in the results. This was made in the eighties, using the same principle as its sail.

Cheers

Wolfie

G'day Wolfie
There is no need to go to a mechanically driven foil. If the deflector has an upper surface NACA foil shape, it will actually 'fly' at the optimum angle created by the low pressure over this surface. At 60 kph about 20 degs/ 80 kph 35 degs and at 110 kph- 45 degs. Let Mr Bernoulli do all the work.
My wing is only about 280mm deep, and has stub axles through the centre of the leading edge tube. From as low as 60 kph you can feel the lift. The wing is made with fiberglass and is quite light in weight but sturdy.
By the way- the side vortex generators need only be about 150mm x100mm (aluminium).

did them DVD's work?

I've only watched a couple all the way through Bruce, one was OK all the way and the 05 OBC had some break up of the pic for a while then cleared up.
Thanks Bruce.

Now thats called 'ground effects' and a whole new debate.