Mercedes-Benz unveiled the IAA (Intelligent Aerodynamic Automobile) at the 2015 Frankfurt Motor Show this week, and some are calling it a real-life Transformers vehicle. On the outside, it looks like a typical CLS four-door coupe, but once you reach speeds in excess of 50mph, it transforms into an aerodynamic machine with an extremely low 0.19 coefficient of drag, at the push of a button. That’s right, the vehicle’s eight segments deploy extending its length up to 390mm. Up front, flaps located in the bumper deploy outwards by 25mm and rearwards by 200mm, improving airflow, while the active wheel rims become flat. The fin in the front bumper retracts by 60mm to improve flow along the underbody. Continue reading for a live video and more pictures.
“The result of all this is a drag coefficient of 0.19. To put that into perspective, the highly fuel-efficient car from Volkswagen, the XL1, has a drag coefficient of 0.189. The new Mercedes-Benz C-Class Coupe, on the other hand, has 0.26, while the Tesla Model S sits at 0.24,” reports Auto Evolution.
