Damn your good, I couldnt have said it better even if I knew what I was talking about.

Great info EPEGASUS

 

You are correct in that aerodynamics is a very complex science, but unlike race cars bodies such as those used in NASCAR that are designed from "the get go" for the best aero advantage possible within the rules of the sanctioning body. When it comes to street cars, many of the advantages go away as aero advantages become secondary to safety, style and the bean counters (sales) in the design of street cars.. In the real world in which we drive our cars, most aero designs lose their effectiveness due to the speeds we travel. As an example the Chrysler wing cars, the Superbird and Daytona were very effective at high rates of speed required at the super speedways....the same "aero advantages" didn't come into play until speeds over 70 or so. I remember one area that a driver of a street wing car could really feel the aerodynamics ...while passing an 18 wheel. The uprights acted as rudders and stopped the pushing you get as you are completing your pass of the semi. The front end and the spoilers did give you the feel of being "planted", but again mainly at high speed. And, speaking of spoilers...a rear spoiler should never be used without a front spoiler to "equalize or balance" the aero down force of the rear spoiler.
Regarding the engineers spending a lot of time on the Challenger's hood scoops...I am not sure how much research went into the design as it is basically a direct copy of the 1970 scoop, which was blocked off and never functional. The most effective hood scoop Dodge ever had for the Challenger was the T/A scoop. Chrysler has many older reports out there on aerodynamics that are both interesting and enlightening. One of the most interesting is their wind tunnel studies of the wing cars, and there is a copy on the Wing Warriors web site.
We could go on and on regarding the subject of aerodynamics, but just want to add my two cents...

 

I know they did a lot of work trying to make the scoops perfomance functional functional but couldn't. They also had to change the front hood angle because when they originally put it in the air tunnel the front hood blew clean off.

 

Which probably explains why the hood now doesn't open clear at the front of the car like the 1970s Challenger did.

 

The Challenger hood not opening to the full front edge is a styling or structural integrity issue for the grill. It would be possible to do so current day as in the 05 -09 Mustang (and again on the 2010 model) whose leading hood edge is at the very front of the car.

As for the automatic exhaust, it is identical to the Charger and Chrysler 300 exhaust (ok, maybe a tad shorter somewhere). The manula got a slightly different set-up. Not sure if it was to give a benefit to the manual trans cars in a free-er flowing exhaust or if it is a benefit possible by the difference in transmission girth or positioning between the auto and the manual.

 

My 09 chally r/t hood scoops are functional, they function as a bug and dust collection point On a different note i bought the hood struts and prefer them over having to use the rod to hold up hood. Why the srt's have them and not the r/t's ?

 

Oh, man, don't let those SRT people hear you. We'll get yet ANOTHER lecture on how superior their cars are. Remember, most of the SRTs were built way back at the turn of the century in 08 when hood prop rods hadn't been invented. If you have stripes on your 09, notice how they're made of vinyl. On the 08s, they were some mystery substance called "carbon fiber." In the old days, you see, everything was carbon stripes and hood struts.

 

well it's true.

 

Sounds like RoswelGrey is longing for the "good old days" of 2008, when Dodge really knew how to build Challengers.......

As a followup to an ealier post....
There were safety studies done on the original Challenger back in the day and they find the hood had a very nastily habit of traveling through the front windshield in a hard frontal impact. Not good for the driver or front passenger for that matter. The hood was big, and flat and nothing stood between it and the front windshield. It seems that the hood would absorb so much energy during the impact that it would break the hood springs and keep traveling rearward. I have an article somewhere written by the Highway Safety Foundation that talks about the Challenger hood issue, and they talk of how some roadside highway signage on the interstates at that time would do the same thing if a driver ran into them...they too would end up coming through the windshield. The interstate signage poles were changed and the Challenger went away, but the hood issue was never really addressed. The new Challenger (and the original Barracuda's) have a header panel in front of the hood which would prevent this from happening. Just one of the little tid-bits that was never really talked about. I will post the article if I can find it.....
I don't remember ever seeing the same issue with other makes

 

Just adds to this car's sinister demeanor. I LOVE IT!!