Ford Global Technolgoies, LLC

Alberto Fontana

Thomas Nitsche

Morten Pyroth

Harald Wendelmuth

A motor vehicle undertray trim panel having an air inlet delimited toward the vehicle and toward the roadway by upper and lower flat elements, respectively, which extend arcuately rearward and upward in the direction of a vehicle engine compartment for air flow cooling. The rear end of the upper flat element is adjoined by a planar air ram plate which runs by a small amount substantially vertically upward, and ends substantially freely in the engine compartment. The air inlet contains eddy producing structures. The structures may be a plurality of air guiding plates which extend along the vehicle vertical axis and the vehicle longitudinal direction in the air inlet and which are curved transversely such that the overall flow cross section in the vehicle longitudinal direction is substantially constant, or a plurality of small air inlets which are integrated into the air inlet.

Motor vehicle undertray trim panel having an air inlet

A motor vehicle undertray trim panel having an air inlet which is delimited toward the vehicle and the roadway by upper and lower flat elements, respectively, which extend arcuately rearward and upward in the direction of a vehicle components. The upper flat element runs, starting from a front end which lies in the vehicle longitudinal direction, in front of, adjacent to or behind an internal combustion engine of the motor vehicle and below a front radiator, first of all approximately horizontally and at a spacing below an oil sump of the internal combustion engine and then in a continuously steeper curve to its rear end which lies behind the oil sump and which is adjoined by a planar air ram plate which runs such that it is directed by a small amount substantially vertically upward, and then ends substantially freely in the engine compartment. The lower flat element runs, from a front end which lies in the vehicle longitudinal direction behind the rear end of the upper flat element, in a steeper curve than the upper flat element rearward and upward to a rear end which lies even further rearward and substantially higher than the rear end of the upper flat element.

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Cologne, Germany

Alberto Fontana