Second attempt to get it thru..............aaarggghhhhhhhhh
Tom,
ground effect is ok if you got them on the right point - means of the pushing
wheels. But also too much slow you down. Tom Burklands Datsun got in the
beginning so much downforce that he produced grooves in the salt from the
airtunnel closing panels. This was too much - when I remember Tom Burkland's
information right, he talked about 7000 pounds downforce in the beginning. He
cut the panels off and reduce them to 1/3 of the earlier downforce - you can
see still the modified panels under the Datsun - blue #313.
Also downforce helps only if you got enough power to move this airbrake under
your car forward.
By the way, when I understood properly than your friend got a wider open in
the front, narrows than to the half of the length of the car and opens than
again. This is dangerous by high speed - if he got bad luck, the airflow under
the car produce a compression in the front half of the car - in other words in
front of the narrowst gap - and than the car will flip immediatly with out
warning - Mercedes got there his special experience......
The cross section from the front to the middle of the car has to be the same
or in front a little bit smaller than, from there than on he can start to open
the cross section to the end of the car, than he will get the downforce on the
rear axle.
Also he need a minimum on downforce on the front - shorter the wheelbase so
more downforce he need on the front, otherwise the front lift only from the
downforce in the rear, a wonderfull example for this reaction was the Jocko
Johnson Streamliner - by 180 mph he produced so much downforce BEHIND the rear
axle that the front lift up from the ground.....Don Garlits didn't like this
effect.
This as a short information to ground effect.
See ya
Pork Pie
By the way, John, your information about wing aerodynamic is correct, you used
them only on the wrong object........
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