Muffle Her Wing

[Rope-Pusher]

From Autoline Daily:
"A WING ON A MUFFLER?
Automakers are paying a lot more attention to aerodynamics these days, so much so that on the new Nissan Rogue, they’ve attached a spoiler, a wing, to the trailing edge of the muffler. That spoiler creates a clean separation point for the air under the car, which reduces turbulence, and that in turn, of course, improves fuel efficiency. Nissan was able to reduce the drag by 10% compared to the old model, and the new Rouge has a CD of point 33. Now not all of that improvement came from the spoiler on the muffler, they did other things, too. But it’s a great example of how automakers are trying every trick they have in the book to meet those stringent CAFE regulations."

It's interesting how many underbody aerodynamic aids one, or two, can see these daze. It started with bellypans, then suspension arms with plastic leading edges, and now muffler wings. Lots of stuff to tear up when you get high-centered on a snow drift.

[theholycow]

Cool beans!

I haven't seen plastic fairings on suspension arms. Are they only leading edges, or do they use trailing edges too? I would think it's as/more important to include a boattail as a leading wedge.

[Rope-Pusher]

It's worse the sooner the air goes turbulent, so there's not much sense in taking care of the rear edges if you haven't done the front edges. Same thing applies up top - the nose of the car sets the tempo for the aerodynamic drag.

[AHTOXA]

My first thought was replacement cost, in case of the aforementioned snowbank issue. As long as these designs don't limit the owner by restricting aftermarket options, no one will have an issue with it, I suspect.