The folk at BMW have come up with an innovative—and eye catching—way to show the use and effectiveness of modern wind tunnel testing.

Model Sylvie van der Vaart was placed in both a 1987 and 2009 3 Series convertible in the company's new Aerodynamic Test Centre wind tunnel near Munich. Both cars were then "taken up" to 60 kph (37 mph) to observe the effect on her coiffure. While not exactly a controlled experiment—van der Vaart's hairstyle and clothes were appropriate for the era of each car—the airflow tailoring that engineers can now accomplish makes for a noticeable improvement in keeping each hair in place.

The BMW "hairdo experiment" shows one way aero testing keeps passengers at ease as well as reducing noise and drag—thus increasing comfort and fuel efficiency.

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