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Comment by 0xf8 | Hacker News Reader

I highly doubt the terminal velocity of any production car is even close to the top speed records in discussion here.

I was curious, so I ran the numbers on a Toyota Camry. With a mass of 1447 kg, a cross-sectional area of 2.7 square meters, and a drag coefficient of 0.28, it would have a terminal velocity of 391 mph. Other cars which are both heavier and more aerodynamic (e.g. a Tesla Model S) could reach even higher top speeds.

You'd need some sort of drogue chute or fins to keep it pointed nose-down, otherwise it'd tumble like the Beetle in the Top Gear episode just posted.

Or maybe being a rear-engined car put the Beetle at a unique disadvantage, and the Camry would orient itself just fine.

Junkyards are easy, who's got a helicopter-pilot friend and some land?

Ha! Sorry - I hadn’t seen your comment when I started mine. Yeah that engine up front will help I think!

For it to be aerodynamically stable you need the center of mass to be less than ~25% from one end. I don't think a Camry or Model S will do that, it will need stabilization fins.

For the Tesla, it might help to fill the frunk with water containers. That should bring the center of mass forward and up a little.

So drop an old 50's car with big fins and an empty tank ....

Surely this appears quick, but does this Camry maintain ideal orientation all the way to terminal velocity?

Hmmm, one could imagine using the front wheel drive as a flywheel for some attitude control...

Me thinks a drop test is in order.

Given that you can get away with a production run of 25 and still count just get the cheapest car on the market, stick some fins on it and sell 24 of them at slight discount from cost (include instructions for fin removal). Likely still cheaper than one run of a supercar.

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