It’s actually quite an impressive feat that cars can drive at highway speeds as easily as they can. Cars are quite large, and there is quite a lot of air in their way when they are driving. Without proper design, a car would essentially be running into a wall of air, and be slowed down dramatically. With the help of good design, however, modern cars can slip through much of the air, and deal with a great deal less resistance.
The secret is in the vehicle’s aerodynamics. But what does good car aerodynamics do, exactly? Here’s some information that future auto body professionals might find interesting.
Collision Estimators May Know Aerodynamics Help Cars Slip Through the Air
One top priority behind car aerodynamics is to round out edges in order to make cars smooth. This helps encourage air to flow around the car and not remain a stubborn block in the front. As a result, cars can go faster as well as remain stable at high speeds; fluctuation in air pressure and wind could otherwise make driving more difficult, and possibly dangerous.
Other design elements, like spoilers and tails, were also once useful for keeping a car’s aerodynamics from raising the rear of the car in the air. Fortunately, this issue has largely been solved by more recent body designs, meaning spoilers and tails you see in your future career as a collision estimator will likely be more decorative than practical.
Aerodynamics Are Important for Keeping Fuel Costs Down
Fuel costs remain stubbornly high in Canada, making it a priority for many drivers to maximize fuel efficiency when possible. Aerodynamics offer great benefit in this area, as the decreased air resistance cars experience will result in less energy required to propel the car down the road, and therefore lower fuel consumption.
It’s not just the car body that matters when it comes to aerodynamics. The parts that are exposed on the bottom of the car also contribute to the amount of air resistance a car can encounter while out on the road, and therefore to the amount of fuel that is required to keep a car going. Because of the relatively small size of these parts compared to the car’s body, though, the contribution they make has less of an impact.
Collision Estimators Might Know Damage and Bad Repairs Can Lessen Aerodynamics
With auto bodies and parts designed and selected with aerodynamics in mind, it should be no surprise that damage can have a negative effect on how well a car can slip through the air. Rough surfaces, jagged edges, and misaligned or dented panels can all cause a car to experience greater friction against air, and thereby prevent a car from operating as well as it could.
The work done by an auto body estimator therefore has important ramifications not only to the aesthetics of a vehicle, but also to how well it performs out on the road. It’s important work, particularly for cars that have been in a collision and sustained serious damage.
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