Aerodynamics & Diverting Wind Resistance ?

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On a road course car, you are always battling the change from mechanical grip to aero grip. You’ll see a lot cars spin right around the speed where that happens. At the point of loosing mechanical grip and downforce hasn’t come in to play. I’ll say it’s around 60-100 mph. Finding that point is hard and different for each car. We’ve only recently started playing with aero on our Miata but downforce creates drag and drag costs horsepower. And we are severely horsepower restricted. Also the weight of the modifications has to be taken in to concern. There is no reason to add anything heavy enough to keep the car from accelerating to the point of it being effective. It’s a catch 22.
 
Chaparral 2J...a customer of mine worked on the aerodynamics of this!
sd-aspect-1484850927-chap (1).jpg

Snowmobile motor in the rear was the weak link. The 427 tossed a rod once too.
 
Chaparral 2J...a customer of mine worked on the aerodynamics of this!
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Snowmobile motor in the rear was the weak link. The 427 tossed a rod once too.

And ... the automatic transmissions GM dictated caused many DNF failures.

The innovations that came from Chaparral cars was so awe inspiring.

60s America ... MAGA cars.
 
Is this QS truck yours ??? IF so, very cool !!! I dig the slot cars as well !
Sorry about all "The Chevy's" :poke:
Yes, owned both the 24 and the 10 trucks.

10 was totally destroyed :BangHead: and the 24 was sold :(.
Still have the slotcars though...:rolleyes:

You would have liked the Florida Pro/Truck class
There were a few competitive Dodge trucks .. 318 built motors or 360 crate was legal. No more.
 
Sorry about all "The Chevy's" :poke:
Yes, owned both the 24 and the 10 trucks.

10 was totally destroyed :BangHead: and the 24 was sold :(.
Still have the slotcars though...:rolleyes:

You would have liked the Florida Pro/Truck class
There were a few competitive Dodge trucks .. 318 built motors or 360 crate was legal. No more.
cool trucks! No apologies needed, I'm a mopar guy through and through but I enjoy cars - and I have some favorites of brand X - in fact, I've owned quite a few brand X :)
 
Aero is overrated. Just ask @12many
Only thing I’ve done for better aero was fold-in my west coast mirrors. On back to back runs a few years ago I knocked off .05 seconds and gained 1.2 mph in the 1/4 (from 11.80 @111.07 to a 11.75 @ 112.2) Over the course of whittling, Got better gains from ditching over 250 lbs. Wiper system, heater assembly, window regulators, all glass replaced with lexan, race seat, etc. Then just upped the power to where I now “should” and depending on the track might need to install a roll bar (not in the plans for now regardless) Oh, and tuned tuned tuned and worked on chassis setup. Aero schmero :rolleyes:
 
THIS guy has his grill blocked off.... Something I can do and keep the stock look IF it would help me .... ???? Opinions ?????
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You could seal off the grill like the diesel guys do in the winter.

Le bra ....
Some kinda quick bolt on bumper extension and cover the entire nose with a tight wind proof canvas....
Something like this but fill in the holes...
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I like the Le bra idea..........but it might be hard to find one for that flat checked girl:D

Another though would be to put some lover/blind behind the grill,...like you would have on a house or a window of a house.
Pull the lever and the radiator is blocked. go race. open up the blinds and drive home.
Of course that would have to be stronger them vinyl. Alu louvers would be cool, painted them black, and no one would be the wiser.
 
I’m not sure on anything except the Daytona body and it’s instability over 150 MPH.

Interesting thing about the tail cones. There is a huge exit loss at the back of those trailers. The air is crashing back into the end of the trailer trying to fill up the space, which is lower pressure. That creates vortices which cause drag. It’s a great study to watch the air move around the back of those trailers. It’s a very good object lesson.

Anything you can do to put the air back together smoothly at the end of the trailer reduces drag, and therefore increases fuel mileage.
Are you referring to the late 80’s early 90’s front wheel drive Dodge Daytona’s ? While Pishta in post 99 is referring to the winged B body Dodge Daytona and Plymouth Superbirds of the early 70’s.
 
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I read somewhere that the most aerodynamic shape resembles a whale. I believe that.
 
I read somewhere that the most aerodynamic shape resembles a whale. I believe that.
The Bell X1, the first plane to break the sound barrier had its shape modeled to be similar to a Browning 50 caliber bullet as it was known that particular projectile was stable at speeds above the sound barrier. So I am thinking that a BMG 50 caliber bullet is much more aerodynamic than a whale.
 
The Bell X1, the first plane to break the sound barrier had its shape modeled to be similar to a Browning 50 caliber bullet as it was known that particular projectile was stable at speeds above the sound barrier. So I am thinking that a BMG 50 caliber bullet is much more aerodynamic than a whale.
Hard to project something with a small ***.
 
"Aerodynamics is for people who don't know how to build engines..."
Enzo Ferrarri
:lol:
 
Wind "through" or Wind "around" ??? How could/should a guy go for a gain ?? I have a couple ideas, seeing what else is out there......
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And at what "speed" or MPH before it matters ??
And even then, how MUCH does it matter ???
And, is there a small change to a '80 D150 front end that would be beneficial - behind the grill ??? .... keep'n it stock appearing
So what's the goal? To round off all the sharp corners like the snow picture? lol
 
Wind "through" or Wind "around" ??? How could/should a guy go for a gain ?? I have a couple ideas, seeing what else is out there......
View attachment 1715850986
View attachment 1715850987
View attachment 1715850988
And at what "speed" or MPH before it matters ??
And even then, how MUCH does it matter ???
And, is there a small change to a '80 D150 front end that would be beneficial - behind the grill ??? .... keep'n it stock appearing
Read up on the Tatra 77, most aerodynamic car of its time
 
Bug deflectors slow them down. Had a friend with a S-10 with a bug deflector, would jump in and out of overdrive at speed.

The bug deflector cracked so he took it off, it shifted fine after that.
 
All the basics have been covered already. But i have a practical suggestion that might help. Put the bed topper on it like others have suggested, and attach these “airtabs” at the rear: Airtab | Aerodynamic Fuel Savers | Welcome/. They’re supposed to help semis reduce drag significantly for fuel economy. They work by creating controlled turbulent vortices off the back of the vehicle that create a virtual aerodynamic shape, similar to what a spoiler does.
 
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