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Old 07-06-2009, 03:17 AM   #53 (permalink)
JackMcCornack
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Good points, bombloader--good enough that I hereby revise my suspicion. I now entertain the reverse suspicion: I now suspect that streamlining in general improves automobile yaw stability because it reduces the aerodynamic component in the overall stability equation. Also, a boattail will improve yaw stability (presuming the rest of the body is left alone) because its area (and influence) are behind the CG, and there are other mods that will both reduce drag and improve yaw stability (e.g as you've noted, a small and rounded nose will shrug off a side gust better than a big boxy Jeep nose).

Of course, if your wheels leave the ground then the aero component gets all the votes. There were Mercedes racers at Le Mans (or some LMP event...I think it was Le Mans) that made some spectacular flights, and I'm not saying "flights" loosely, not like "He mised the turn and flew off the track," I'm saying lift greater than weight, the car was picked up off the track by aerodynamic forces and flew to the scene of the accident. There's not much risk of that at ecomodding speeds so I doubt we'll get ourselves into much trouble with our streamlining efforts.
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