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When it comes to the aerodynamics of automobiles, you may believe the more teardrop-shaped the vehicle, the more slippery it is. Conversely, you’d presume cars and trucks with squared-off, brick-ish designs don’t fare well during drag coefficient testing. You’d be half-right.
You’d likely not bat an eye to learn that, say, the 2006 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon soft top has a drag coefficient (Cd) of 0.58—which is slightly worse than the average cow’s drag coefficient of 0.50. But more surprising is that the curvaceous 1979 Volkswagen Beetle has a 0.48Cd. Not all streamlined shapes are wind tunnel champions.
In recent years, aerodynamics has taken on significantly more importance because of the rise of EVs, the concurrent anxiety about range, and the simple math that a car with less drag uses less energy, meaning that you won’t have to charge the battery so often, meaning that manufacturers can say that their EVs are a hair more efficient with more range than their competitors. In racing contexts, too, aerodynamics is important, but less in terms of energy consumption than in increasing downforce, for better grip when cornering. That’s been a focus in Formula 1, for example, since the 1960s. Decades before that, among production cars, designers were building aerodynamic gas cars with an eye on efficiency much like designers are doing today with EVs.
The following 7 automobiles aren’t the most aerodynamic vehicles ever made but they are the most interesting production ones.
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Tatra 87 | 0.36Cd
Image Credit: Screenshot/Jay Leno’s Garage This hodgepodge of a silver limo emerged from Czechoslovakia between 1936 and 1950. The Tatra 87 was designed with speed and aerodynamics in mind, with the initial design proposals coming from folks who worked on the Graf Zeppelin dirigibles. While the front may look like a Volkswagen Beetle with one extra headlamp, the pinched tail and rear fin—to bifurcate the air pressure around both sides of the body—were sleek and slippery. Powered by a rear-mounted 2.9-liter V8 with 85 horsepower (paltry today, but very powerful then), the Tatra 87 was meant to achieve 100 miles per hour on the highway and cruise smoothly. It achieved a 0.36Cd, which was astounding for the time. Those aerodynamics also helped with gas mileage: it averaged nearly 20 miles per gallon.
Because of its speed and power, and also because it was a luxury limo, it was beloved by high-ranking German officers. It may have sliced through the air, but it had horrible handling and was prone to crashing in corners. So many Nazi officers died in Tatra 87s that the German Army eventually forbade its officers from using the 87.
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Saab 92 | 0.30Cd
Image Credit: Saab The first-ever production car from the Swedes, in 1949, was a humdinger of an engineering feat. The 92’s body was stamped out of a single piece of sheet metal, then cut to accommodate windows and doors, helping keep production expenditures low. The engine—a water-cooled two-cylinder 764cc two-stroke—barely made 25 horsepower, but it was good enough to get the 92 up to 65 miles an hour, in part because of the low drag the car produced. Early in the 92’s production, all models were a dark green, a byproduct of extra camouflage paint from the war that Saab had picked up cheap. And a few early 92s finished on podiums in rally races.
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Honda Insight | 0.25Cd
Image Credit: Honda With pinched hindquarters, including rear wheel covers for added slip, the small and lithe two-door hatchback hybrid coupe that was the Honda Insight achieved a remarkable drag coefficient. When it launched in 1999, Honda claimed that the Insight averaged 64 mpg, though owners found they were achieving more than 70 miles per gallon. Some of the Insight’s lightness came from an aluminum body and frame, though that made it far costlier to produce. However, Honda’s goal with the Insight was never mass production; it was a real-world test case to see how consumers would respond to and use a hybrid vehicle. The Insight line ceased production in 2006, having produced just over 17,000 units.
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Porsche Taycan | 0.22Cd
Image Credit: Porsche When designing its first all-electric super saloon, the Taycan, Porsche sought to eke out every possible mile from every single electron in that battery pack. Accordingly, the Taycan needed to glide through the air with ease, so Stuttgart engineers utilized Computational Fluid Dynamics software during the design process, to ensure the Taycan’s body and chassis were slippery. Then they spent more than 1,500 hours in wind tunnel testing and refinements. With a result of 0.22Cd, the efforts paid off.
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Mercedes EQS | 0.202Cd
Image Credit: Mercedes-Benz AG – Global Communications Mercedes-Benz Cars & Vans With G-Wagen (and its 0.53Cd to 0.48Cd) aside, Mercedes makes some seriously aerodynamic sedans and sports utility vehicles. The slipperiest? The all-electric EQS sedan. With that overall bulbous shape, a smooth underbody, and active louvers in the radiator that can shut, when it was introduced in 2021, the EQS was the world’s most aerodynamic sedan. (It’s since been dethroned by the Lucid Air.)
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Lucid Air | 0.197Cd
Image Credit: Lucid Clean lines that integrated sensors and driver aids help aero here, as do a number of air fences and diverters. For example, there’s an air fence underneath the car in the middle to help segment the air flowing around the sides of the car from the air that’s passing beneath it. Air curtains that move air around the front wheels allegedly extend the Air’s range by up to 1.25 miles, and a rear diffuser helps optimize airflow beneath the floorboards.
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Volkswagen XL1 | 0.189Cd
Image Credit: Volkswagen This two-seater diesel-powered plug-in hybrid coupe was made by Volkswagen to prove you could travel 100 kilometers on one liter of diesel, with a fully charged battery. (Or about 260 miles per gallon.) Initially a concept when it debuted to the public back in 2009, the production design from when it started rolling off the assembly line in 2013 is still pretty fresh looking. It even has dihedral butterfly doors. Early internal prototypes, in 2002, featured tandem seats, cameras for rearview mirror, and close rear wheels, to afford a more narrow body. That early concept achieved 0.159Cd. The production units use carbon fiber bodies, a semi-tandem seating formation, faired-in rear wheels, and cameras in lieu of mirrors. Only 250 XL1s were made and they cost a whopping $158,285.
Authors
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Sean Evans
