Enhancing Vehicle Performance by Integrated Cooling System Design for Front-End Air Flow

India, being one of the largest automotive markets has considered various policies affecting fuel efficiency to curb vehicle carbon emissions. In a typical light-duty vehicle (LDV), around 20% of the fuel's energy is used to power the wheels and overcome aerodynamic drag resistance. Aerodynamic drag resistance, influenced by the projected surface area, cooling drag and velocity refers to the resistive force encountered by the vehicle. Furthermore, cooling drag resistance is determined by the effective cooling system architecture and aerodynamic design of the front-end module (FEM), which has major impact on the vehicle's performance and ram curve. In the pursuit of enhancing cooling system architecture, this paper investigates thermal performance and structural integrity of using common fins for both the condenser and radiator to improve the inlet aerodynamic performance which lowers cooling fan power consumption. Preliminary results show a 12% notable reduction in motor power consumption, accompanied by a 10mm reduction in packaging size.