It's not size, it's the angle. And the wraparound. You see, your SAAB is
actually designed in a wind tunnel for low coefficient of drag. The body is
shaped so that air goes around it, maintaining smooth laminar flow. Even
above and beyond the general desire for fuel economy -- SAAB is an aircraft
company, after all.
The MGB, on the other hand, was designed on a drafting table in Abingdon, or
perhaps Longbridge. I've always felt the total concession to aerodynamics
consisted of when the protoype wouldn't reach 100MPH (due to increased
frontal area vis a vis the MGA, because of overall width and wider tires),
their solution was to chop 2 inches off the windshield height.
--
Max Heim
'66 MGB GHN3L76149
If you're near Mountain View, CA,
it's the primer red one with chrome wires
on 4/28/03 6:32 PM, Tab Julius at tab@penworks.com wrote:
> I do not understand this. I own three vehicles. One is a piece-of-junk
> '83 Ford Ranger for getting stuff to the dump, running errands to Home
> Depot, etc.
>
> The other two are convertibles.
>
> My "real" car is a Saab 900 convertible.
>
> My "surreal" car is my '78 MGB
>
> The Saab's windshield is probably 6-12 inches higher than the MG's, though
> I haven't measured it.
>
> Driving both in my local area, at all hours (meaning both are roughly
> equally exposed to the same environment), my MG's windshield will
> invariably be covered in dead bug smegma. Whereas the Saab's windshield is
> barely covered at all - I have to reach high speeds on the highway in the
> evening to reach the same bug:glass ratio.
>
> I doubt that the Saab has a built-in bug-repellent windshield. They're
> nice cars, but not that nice.
>
> Likewise, it's not like the MGB should be a bug-repellent. If I owned an
> Austin-Healey bugeyed Sprite I might be able to contemplate that, but as it
> is, the only real difference is windshield height.
>
> Is it just me, or does anyone else see exceptional bug splatter/smegma on
> their MG not replicated on other vehicles. If so, any musings as to
> WHY? Do an extra six to twelve inches (of windshields!) really make a
> difference? In short, does size matter?
>
> Scraping as we speak...
>
> - Tab
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