A vehicle has external bodywork including an upper surface and an under surface, the under surface having at least one aperture, and the vehicle comprising lower ducting located within the external bodywork and communicating with that aperture, the upper surface having at least one aperture, and the vehicle comprising upper ducting located within the external bodywork and communicating with that aperture, the upper ducting and the lower ducting leading to a fan adapted to selectively draw air through the respective ductings, the vehicle further comprising a control unit adapted to receive information as to the vehicle dynamic state and, in the light of that state, draw air through the lower ducting or through the upper ducting. Thus, a choice can be made between enhanced levels of downforce on the one hand, and low drag on the other. By providing pre-set thresholds for parameters such as speed, g-force, vehicle attitude or the like within the control unit, the car can be tailored so that it is optimised for low drag during high speed straight-line driving, when tight cornering is unlikely, and optimised for greater downforce when lateral grip is more likely to be needed.

A vehicle has external bodywork including an upper surface and an under surface, the under surface having at least one aperture, and the vehicle comprising lower ducting located within the external bodywork and communicating with that aperture, the upper surface having at least one aperture, and the vehicle comprising upper ducting located within the external bodywork and communicating with that aperture, the upper ducting and the lower ducting leading to a fan adapted to selectively draw air through the respective ductings, the vehicle further comprising a control unit adapted to receive information as to the vehicle dynamic state and, in the light of that state, draw air through the lower ducting or through the upper ducting. Thus, a choice can be made between enhanced levels of downforce on the one hand, and low drag on the other. By providing pre-set thresholds for parameters such as speed, g-force, vehicle attitude or the like within the control unit, the car can be tailored so that it is optimised for low drag during high speed straight-line driving, when tight cornering is unlikely, and optimised for greater downforce when lateral grip is more likely to be needed.

A motor vehicle body with an air-guiding device and with a trailer coupling mounting device. The air-guiding device is formed in a rear-end region of the motor vehicle body. The trailer coupling mounting device is adjustable into a rest position and into an active position. The trailer coupling mounting device, in at least the rest position, is at least partially covered with respect to surroundings by the air-guiding device, which is settable into a first operating position and a second operating position. For positioning the trailer coupling mounting device into its active position, the air-guiding device is settable into its second operating position and, after or together with the positioning of the air-guiding device into its second operating position, the trailer coupling mounting device is configured to be movable along a body vertical axis (Z) of the motor vehicle body.

A motor vehicle body includes an air-guiding device and a trailer coupling mounting device. The air-guiding device is formed in a rear-end region of the motor vehicle body, and the trailer coupling mounting device is adjustable into a rest position and into an active position. The trailer coupling mounting device, in at least the rest position, is at least partially covered by the air-guiding device, which is settable into a first operating position and a second operating position. For positioning of the trailer coupling mounting device into its active position, the trailer coupling mounting device is movable along a body longitudinal axis of the motor vehicle body, and, before or together with the positioning of the trailer coupling mounting device into its active position, the air-guiding device is settable into an intermediate position which has a pivot angle greater than a pivot angle of the second operating position.

A rear arrangement for a vehicle includes a trailer coupling mount and a rear diffuser having an adjustable air-guiding element which is adjustable between a retracted position and an extended position. The trailer coupling mount is pivotable about a pivot axis, which is congruent or parallel to the vehicle transverse axis (y), between an inoperative position and a use position. The air-guiding element in the retracted position at least partially conceals the trailer coupling mount, and the air-guiding element has to be brought into the extended position so that the trailer coupling mount can be pivoted into the use position.

A rear arrangement for a vehicle includes a trailer coupling mount and a rear diffuser having an adjustable air-guiding element which is adjustable between a retracted position and an extended position. The trailer coupling mount is pivotable about a pivot axis, which is congruent or parallel to the vehicle longitudinal axis (x), between an inoperative position and a use position. The air-guiding element in the retracted position at least partially conceals the trailer coupling mount, and the air-guiding element has to be brought into the extended position so that the trailer coupling mount can be pivoted into the use position.

A body part for a motor vehicle with a positioning structure is provided. The body part includes an outer panel and an inner panel, and a backside of the outer panel is provided with a positioning structure to position the outer panel relative to the inner panel for their assembly, the positioning structure including a clamping seat configured to receive a shaft of a rack for positioning the outer panel thereon during manufacturing of the outer panel, and to be engaged in an opening of the inner panel to position the outer panel relative to the inner panel. The positioning structure combines the arrangements of both positioning holes and positioning ribs, thereby greatly enhancing the eligibility rate of spray painting and welding stability.

Systems and methods are described herein to implement transverse momentum injection at low frequencies to directly modify large-scale eddies in a turbulent boundary layer on a surface of an object. A set of transverse momentum injection actuators may be positioned on the surface of the object to affect large-scale eddies in the turbulent boundary layer. The system may include a controller to selectively actuate the transverse momentum injection actuators with an actuation pattern to affect the large-scale eddies to modify the drag of the fluid flow on the surface. In various embodiments, the transverse momentum injection actuators may be operated at frequencies less than 10,000 Hertz.

An active liftgate spoiler used on a liftgate of a vehicle. The liftgate has an upper surface and is typically a rear liftgate or hatch on the rear side of the vehicle. A housing is connected to the upper surface of the liftgate. There is a moveable panel connected to the housing using a connection. The connection is formed by a four bar linkage that forms a portion of the connection between the moveable panel and the housing. An actuator, which in one embodiment is a single rotary actuator is connected to the four bar linkage and causes the movement of the moveable panel.

A drive unit for an air deflector element of a motor vehicle includes a drive motor transmission unit formed by a drive motor connected with, as a single unit, at least one transmission, a control unit configured to control the drive unit, and a temperature sensor configured to detect a temperature of the drive unit.