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Does a Tonneau add range? Check out the video

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Cbowe

Cbowe

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It was an epic fail because the tire pressure was lower during your first round of tests. The heated more inflated tires decreased rolling resistance and made up for the difference. So now you have to go back and try again. Oh and as the day continued, the air over the road heated up decreasing the air density therefore less wind resistance. :headbang:. Just playing.

Before the invention of the frunk, the tonneau cover always provided a weather resistant space for stuff from groceries to tools; a device so I didn't have to dig out and haul snow so I could have a space for groceries and tools...

Now it does the same stuff as before but now I don't have to dig out snow to access the pro power. :muscle:
I tried my best man lol 😆 In fairness I did make sure the tire pressure was the same. I drove from the Bay Area 90 minutes to the middle of CA so the tires and battery temp were warmed up before the first loop and did it from 11-4 and the outside temp stayed within 2 degrees 🙂
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I also have the work sport cover but I modified it. One can lift up by the double hinge section and insert a wire and pull the latch cord wire. Anyone can walk away with their cover and or your contents. You can purchase the bulk head clamps direct from them on the cheap and swap out the quick latch in under 5 minutes.
 

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I tried my best man lol 😆 In fairness I did make sure the tire pressure was the same. I drove from the Bay Area 90 minutes to the middle of CA so the tires and battery temp were warmed up before the first loop and did it from 11-4 and the outside temp stayed within 2 degrees 🙂
Like I was saying, just playing.

I have watched some of your other content. If you get rid of the quick latch and use the extra clamps that stops the water intrusion also....
 
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Cbowe

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I also have the work sport cover but I modified it. One can lift up by the double hinge section and insert a wire and pull the latch cord wire. Anyone can walk away with their cover and or your contents. You can purchase the bulk head clamps direct from them on the cheap and swap out the quick latch in under 5 minutes.
Yeah the same thing that makes it easy to remove does make it vulnerable. Recently they added an option for the double hinge to have a latch and the new AL4 has rails and is really secure.
 

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Here is the conclusion from a real engineering/scientific study. Not a TV show.

Read the whole study here: https://asee-ncs.org/proceedings/2018/1/13.pdf

Conclusion
Since flow structures around pickup trucks have been a topic of interest for the automotive industry
for a long time, this study aimed to look into the flow structure with more geometric details added
to the pickup truck model used here. The use of Computational Fluid Dynamics has made this
process more dynamic by reducing the time to carry out in-depth analysis. This work analyzed the
flow patterns around a generic pickup truck base model and three modifications inspired by market
available add-on devices. All the cases discussed here are only for highway speed and the stream
is at yaw angle of 00.
After analyzing the flow patterns in baseline model and three modifications, it was observed that
the drag coefficient value of pickup trucks are usually high due to the vortex inside the rear box
cavity. Improving the drag coefficient values directly affect the fuel consumption by the vehicle.
In this study, the lowest drag (15% reduction) was observed for the modification 3 which has
tonneau cover in rear box. The reason for improvement was in shifting of air vortex in the
downstream of cabin, especially in the rear box and wake zone. Modification 1 (wider tailgate top)
has done some improvement (5% reduction) where modification 2 (cab roof spoiler with back
cabin screen) has done around 8% reduction but increased the lift.
Another observation of the study is that the side mirrors should be included in the CFD analysis
for any generic car. The side mirrors clearly effect the flow characteristics downstream which can
be clearly seen in the velocity contours.
 

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Firn

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Here is the conclusion from a real engineering/scientific study. Not a TV show.

Read the whole study here: https://asee-ncs.org/proceedings/2018/1/13.pdf

Conclusion
Since flow structures around pickup trucks have been a topic of interest for the automotive industry
for a long time, this study aimed to look into the flow structure with more geometric details added
to the pickup truck model used here. The use of Computational Fluid Dynamics has made this
process more dynamic by reducing the time to carry out in-depth analysis. This work analyzed the
flow patterns around a generic pickup truck base model and three modifications inspired by market
available add-on devices. All the cases discussed here are only for highway speed and the stream
is at yaw angle of 00.
After analyzing the flow patterns in baseline model and three modifications, it was observed that
the drag coefficient value of pickup trucks are usually high due to the vortex inside the rear box
cavity. Improving the drag coefficient values directly affect the fuel consumption by the vehicle.
In this study, the lowest drag (15% reduction) was observed for the modification 3 which has
tonneau cover in rear box. The reason for improvement was in shifting of air vortex in the
downstream of cabin, especially in the rear box and wake zone. Modification 1 (wider tailgate top)
has done some improvement (5% reduction) where modification 2 (cab roof spoiler with back
cabin screen) has done around 8% reduction but increased the lift.
Another observation of the study is that the side mirrors should be included in the CFD analysis
for any generic car. The side mirrors clearly effect the flow characteristics downstream which can
be clearly seen in the velocity contours.
I mean, that was directly opposite this testing and what other testing has shown...
 
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Cbowe

Cbowe

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Like I was saying, just playing.

I have watched some of your other content. If you get rid of the quick latch and use the extra clamps that stops the water intrusion also....
I mean, that was directly opposite this testing and what other testing has shown...
Yeah I’m not sure how they are showing such a bug improvement and the Ford engineer also said their wind tunnel showed improvement but I definitely didn’t see it in the real world nor did the show. There is a video done with a Rivian that I have linked in the description of my video that also showed no difference.
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