A lot of good thinking going on in here. I like Excalibers idea.... Are we sure that the area of high pressure at the base of the windshield is really that great on our cars considering how steeply raked the windshield is? Here's a crappy picture I found:
http://www.honda.com.my/images/civic...erodynamic.jpg I don't really know if that helps with what I'm trying to say. Check out this web page>
Aerodynamics and click on the 4th link down titled "Drag Coefficient" or just scroll down to the bold heading
Drag Coefficient. Under this heading it says,"The shape of a car, as the aerodynamic theory above suggests, is largely responsible for how much drag the car has.
Ideally, the car body should:
-Have a small grill, to minimize frontal pressure
-
Have a steeply raked windshield to avoid pressure build up in front"
There are more "shoulds" that it lists, but these two points^ sounds very much like our cars. I don't know, maybe I'm waaaay off base, but I'm just thinking that cowl induction worked well for older cars because their windshields were almost vertical,j/k. I know that the high pressure area at the base of the windshield is present on our cars, because of the hood to windshield transition, but is that high pressure area really that great on the 8thgens? IMO, I think the fog light opening would be an area of higher pressure than the cowl on our beloved Civics.
EDIT- No need to click link or scroll down on the Aerodynamics page, once you click the above link- you are there, hehe