Couldnt take the wheel cover anymore. Black matte wrap. Bam!

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You can put me in the camp that doesn't care that much about the exterior looks of the car (looks better than an Aztek or a Bolt, though :-) ). But I like the wheel covers because otherwise I can't tell the Hondas apart! I keep thinking Accords are another Clarity until I see the missing wheel cover.
 
I admit I found the rear wheel covers a bit odd on first inspection. I am reminded as I drove to work today behind a Prius with a bumper sticker "Cool Car! {said no one, ever}" that I'm really not interested in impressing folks with the looks of my car.

After a period of time the covers quit bothering me at all, and then I turned a page in that I find it useful to identify other Clarity cars in my area. I don't mean to say Clarity is common where I live, but I know there are at least 4 of them (different colors etc) in my area.

I happened to be next to a young mom driving a Clarity at the supermarket recently. We were both exiting and in different lanes next to each other. There was the eye-contact, smile, and we gave each other thumb's up.
 
Dan Albrich said:
I admit I found the rear wheel covers a bit odd on first inspection. I am reminded as I drove to work today behind a Prius with a bumper sticker "Cool Car! {said no one, ever}" that I'm really not interested in impressing folks with the looks of my car.

After a period of time the covers quit bothering me at all, and then I turned a page in that I find it useful to identify other Clarity cars in my area. I don't mean to say Clarity is common where I live, but I know there are at least 4 of them (different colors etc) in my area.

I happened to be next to a young mom driving a Clarity at the supermarket recently. We were both exiting and in different lanes next to each other. There was the eye-contact, smile, and we gave each other thumb's up.
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Yes, the appearance wears off after a little bit of time.
I think the rear covered panel gives the Clarity a unique look and differentiates itself from the common Civic and Accords running around.

Nice to also have a unique non common Honda color too (Black Forest Green).
 
insightman said:
Imagine the anguish at the Clarity engineers' meeting when the aerodynamics contingent reported, "We've done almost everything we could to match the EV range of the smaller, lighter Chevy Volt, but we're still 6 miles short." The fuel system engineers stomped out when the aero guys suggested a smaller gas tank would improve EV range by making room for a larger battery. Then one of the old engineers asked, "Did you try covering the entire rear wheels with spats like the gen-1 Insight? That worked for us back in '98." The aero guys replied, "We're not sure Geor99 will buy this thing with these small covers that got us so close to the Volt--he'd never go for the full spats. So we say screw it, that Volt isn't selling and GM will probably dump it soon. We'll skip the spats to keep Geor99 in the fold." See, it could have been worse.

[Note: The wheel cover graced the Clarity Fuel Cell car long before Honda was worrying about competing with the EV range of the Chevy Volt.]
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This story worthes a novel, please do it.
 
I think Honda knows anyway this is a low volume car mostly for Tax benefit purpose, they did a lot of experiments on it. I think the outcome is good, we will see a lot of the new features on other new models soon. In fact, the designs are mostly working, I believe Clarity will soon become a successful model with good volume.
 
Geor99 said:
That little piece of sheet metal may not seem like a big deal, but I've done a lot of wind tunnel testing in my earlier engineering days. You'd be surprised what a difference just a little change here and a little change there actually makes. I'd bet you that removing the wheel wells would take 3-5 miles off of a full charge in ev miles.

Yes, 3-5 miles. I'd bet big money it does over 2 miles on a full charge. That's 5%, which is enormous for a designer. And yes, others get away without it, like the Volt.

But it is a completely different size and shape. Trust me, it matters:)
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I found a paper on the Honda Clarity Fuel Cell vehicle development that includes a section that described the aero design. All together the design tweaks accounted for a 13% reduction in drag. The 'tire covers' (aka spats, skirts, pants, etc.) account for a 1% drop in CD.

Interestingly, the four covers underneath the car account for 3%, 2.5%, 1.5% and 1% drops in CD (front to back respectively); 8% of the 13% CD improvements are from the underbody design.

https://www.hondarandd.jp/point.php?pid=1185&lang=en
 
In another similar paper they state:
"... It would have been possible to achieve a major increase in aerodynamic performance by completely covering the rear tires. However, this would have reduced the track width, making the vehicle appear less robust from the rear. This and other considerations resulted in the adoption of a method not employed in normal sedans. The new CLARITY's use of the side outer panels to cover only the upper sections and fronts of the tires is a most effective means of controlling turbulence from the rear tires without the use of a rear cover while maintaining a wide tread."

https://www.hondarandd.jp/point.php?pid=1196&lang=en
 
Ray B said:
Interestingly, the four covers underneath the car account for 3%, 2.5%, 1.5% and 1% drops in CD (front to back respectively); 8% of the 13% CD improvements are from the underbody design.
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Yes, the car is uncommonly smooth underneath, at least under the passenger compartment. The motors and exhaust have openings but otherwise the fiberboard panel covers most undulations. I got a good look while standing under it verifying all four body plugs had been inserted when I stopped by the dealer.

Apparently aerodynamic engineers also suffer from thinking more about the parts they can see. Even as cars in general got much better on Cd, the undersides of most cars stayed pretty "rough". It's attractive to see these very smooth underbodies.
 
Ray B said:
In another similar paper they state:
"... It would have been possible to achieve a major increase in aerodynamic performance by completely covering the rear tires. However, this would have reduced the track width, making the vehicle appear less robust from the rear. This and other considerations resulted in the adoption of a method not employed in normal sedans. The new CLARITY's use of the side outer panels to cover only the upper sections and fronts of the tires is a most effective means of controlling turbulence from the rear tires without the use of a rear cover while maintaining a wide tread."

https://www.hondarandd.jp/point.php?pid=1196&lang=en
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Yes, my gen-1 Insight's rear track is narrower than the front to fit the wheel covers (or spats). It makes for an interesting 4-track pattern in the snow on my driveway. The word "robust" was never mentioned by the designers of that car.
 
Ray B said:
I found a paper on the Honda Clarity Fuel Cell vehicle development that includes a section that described the aero design. All together the design tweaks accounted for a 13% reduction in drag. The 'tire covers' (aka spats, skirts, pants, etc.) account for a 1% drop in CD.

Interestingly, the four covers underneath the car account for 3%, 2.5%, 1.5% and 1% drops in CD (front to back respectively); 8% of the 13% CD improvements are from the underbody design.

https://www.hondarandd.jp/point.php?pid=1185&lang=en
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Thanks for the data! I wonder much a 1% improvement in CD adds to the EV range?
 
A quick back-of-the-envelope guess for a trip that was at 60 mph ... an extra 0.25 miles. The higher the speed, the more significant it becomes, but then the baseline range will drop off a cliff as well, so who knows if the difference would ever get much bigger than that. We're going to need a bigger envelope. :)
 
insightman said:
Imagine the anguish at the Clarity engineers' meeting when the aerodynamics contingent reported, "We've done almost everything we could to match the EV range of the smaller, lighter Chevy Volt, but we're still 6 miles short." The fuel system engineers stomped out when the aero guys suggested a smaller gas tank would improve EV range by making room for a larger battery. Then one of the old engineers asked, "Did you try covering the entire rear wheels with spats like the gen-1 Insight? That worked for us back in '98." The aero guys replied, "We're not sure Geor99 will buy this thing with these small covers that got us so close to the Volt--he'd never go for the full spats. So we say screw it, that Volt isn't selling and GM will probably dump it soon. We'll skip the spats to keep Geor99 in the fold." See, it could have been worse.

[Note: The wheel cover graced the Clarity Fuel Cell car long before Honda was worrying about competing with the EV range of the Chevy Volt.][/QUOTE

The Entire point of this guys post was to share his solution for those people who don't like the asymmetric look of these wheel wells.
Start your own thread and extend them to the ground, if you want. I won't respond with a post creating some fictional universe where the Honda engineers are trying to make it look as goofy as possible to appease the tastes of Insightman. Or perhaps like the "IT," the Garrison vehicle in Southpark:)

And you're damn right that the design team should be worried if Geor99 will buy the car. I am their target audience, you jackass. 30-45 year old, Middle class, American with a long commute living in a State with high gas prices.

If you think it's ridiculous to not like the look of the wheel wells, that's wonderful- keep me out of your mockery.
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Geor99 said:
I am their target audience, you jackass.
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I sincerely apologize for my attempt at humor that you found so offensive. My point was that Honda worked harder to make the car efficient than beautiful.
 
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I think your missing his point. He could have inserted anyones name(who doesn't like the wheel covers). The point being that engineering for reduced drag trumped the fact that some people may not like the wheel covers.
 
I went overboard. But you must admit that my Southpark reference was hilarious.

When the moderator Googles the video of my reference, I am certainly going to be banned from the forum.

His vehicle design in the show is really a cheap (but absolutely hilarious) shot at all of us ev owners/some say segwey owners.
 
Yikes if that 0.25 miles improvement due to the wheel cover is true. Totally not worth over all the sales they are losing from people thinking the car is butt-ugly.
 
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