Wasn't there some guy, Jim Hall maybe, who designed an indy car that
actually sucked the air out from underneath the car to create a
vacuum. Even though I have never been into racing much, I remember
it being a big controversy. In the only race of that type I've ever
been to, I saw it race at Ontario back in the late 60's. The car
didn't finish and I think was banned the next year.
Bill
San Diego
>...and the reason why that is A Good Thing is that the underside of a normal
>car is a very untidy, drag-inducing kind of place. Routing the air around the
>car (with a little diverted to the front brakes for cooling) reduces
>drag. When
>you get into purpose-built racing cars (Formula cars of various
>ilks, etc.) the
>smooth bottom reduces or obviates the need for an air dam. I think that it was
>in F1 (or maybe indy cars - I can't remember) some years back that some very
>clever fellows used specifically-shaped channels in the bottom of the car to
>accelerate the flow of air under the bottom of the car, increasing its
>velocity, which decreases its pressure, creating a negative delta P, or
>downforce.
>
>Gary McCormick
>San Jose, CA
>
>CalSpeed@aol.com wrote:
>
>> In a message dated 8/29/01 6:08:37 PM Pacific Daylight Time,
>> 9laser3@bright.net writes:
>>
>> > Looking for some on line help understanding the benefits of an air dam and
>> > the best way to install one on a roadster?
>> >
>> >
>>
>> The airdam redirects the air around the car rather then it traveling
> > underneath. For the best airdam contact Les or Dennis at CDM.
> >
> > Calspeed
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