windscreen angle/areo

[perry]

Hey Guys, Perry here. I have been thinking about the poor areodynamics of my Birkin 7 because I no life & it beats actually working. Anyhow, I may be buying a couple $65 carbon fiber winglets from Caterham that direct airflow over the front suspension & provide some downforce when I go 125 mph to the taco shop. I was also considering a "layback" of the windscreen to maybe 45 degrees. Have you cats ever heard of anyone doing this? Some triangular cuts on the side supports should do the trick & might lower the areodynamic drag to only that of Mt. Helix. Thoughts? Opinions?

[magnusfeuer]

Perry, I don't know of anyone who leaned their windscreen backwards. I think that a backward-leaning windscreen may have a top edge that is very close to your face and also does not deflect the wind enough to go above your head.

The usual aerodynamic modification ladder is usually, windscreen, brookland shields, aero screen and no-f*cking-screen-at-all. The two last examples usually necessitate a helmet, which looks very cool but can be cumbersome. For easier blats, impact resistant sunglasses and a closed mouth (those bugs are tasty but distracting) may be a substitute.


Just my $0.02.

/Magnus F.

[Doug Liedblad]

Go with Brookands or the aeroscreen.

With Brooklands there is less buffeting than with the full windscreen.

I don't feel the need for a helmet unless it's cold. I usually use goggles on the freeway.

With the Brooklands tilted back the bugs hit me on the forehead. There is actually a nice relatively calm zone around the face.

[rzempel]

Does anyone know, from experience, whether the Caterham aeroscreen fits a Birkin?

Randall

[perry]

Perry again.

:D Thanks for the input. I removed the stock Birkin windscreen today. What a blast! With no front fenders & no windscreen it's motoring at it's rawest. The car not only SEEMS faster, I think it really is quicker as well. It's cold out but I get a draft of warm air out of the bonnet louvers. The car is oddly quieter at low speeds as there is no resonance/encapsulation factor anymore. I would run like this forever but the law says windshield. So I'm going to run a section of aluminum bar stock bolted down across the wiper shafts. I'll unplug the wiper motor first. On the bar I'll mount the vintage Brooklands screen I"ve had sitting around. I already mounted a clip-on doorframe mirror onto the cowl. It was from a streetrod I once had. Good to go. Any passenger I have can suck wind. See ya on the road!---Perry.

[Doug Liedblad]

A former Birkin dealer says that the Caterham aeroscreen should fit the Birkin.

[magnusfeuer]

The car *is* faster at high speed. The windscreen brings down top speed and acceleration at 60+ mph.

Some of us have run without a windscreen for years without being stopped or ticketed.

Just tell the nice CHP officer that this was the way you got the car when you bought it.

/Magnus F.

[Elv15]

Bernie Long has a cut down windshield on his Birkin. http://pierats.com/gallery/tour_se7ens/10_Bernie_Long

[slomove]

I am weighing my options for a quick change system from full screen to aero for the track. On the road I find the regular screen sometimes quite useful:

[rzempel]

A former Birkin dealer says that the Caterham aeroscreen should fit the Birkin.

Thanks Doug.

[rzempel]

[QUOTE=slomove;10046]I am weighing my options for a quick change system from full screen to aero for the track. On the road I find the regular screen sometimes quite useful:

That's why I've been interested to know if the aeroscreen fits the Birkin. The windscreen is so easy to take off, yet as you point out there are times when only a full windshield will do. :-)

[perry]

Perry here.

That cool pic of Slomove's seven in the rain shows how much the stock headlights infringe on the driver's view. it was a big improvement when I went to low-profile lights simmilar to ebay item # 200399234932. I think They look kinda slick & they present a smaller frontal area to the wind. But the big advantage is they are flush with the top of the bonnet, Height wise. No more lookin' around those melons. ---Today I ordered up those carbon fiber winglets from Caterham @ $65 ea. Not bad for custom carbony stuff. I may need to delete my front signals to accomodate.

[Mondo]

The low 5" headlights were part of the attraction to my S2K (album)

[slomove]

I don't mind the current headlight size too much from the appearance point of view. In a way they belong to the Seven.

Nevertheless they contribute to the anyway significant drag and smaller ones are the way to go. Since my headlights are going blind anyway, I bought some nice and bright 90mm Hella modules that do high and low beam (via solenoid shutter) in a very compact package. Obviously I will need to fabricate some good-looking pods to house these modules....next project.

[perry]

Those are cool!