Quote:
Originally Posted by aerogreen
Most downforce increasing methods also increase drag.
Consider that F1 car have a Cd of about 1 while most passenger cars have Cds of less than 0.4
Most production cars have lift so to get to have downforce you must eliminate all lift
Things that really work to improve downforce while also reducing drag
- Smooth undertray or a front air dam. While an air dam increases drag, if you got a rough underbody the dam drag is compensated by the reduced underbody drag.
- Diffuser. Up to 4 degrees reduces drag. Anything beyond 4 increases both drag and downforce.
- Boundary layer suction
Look it up in wikipedia
Even better if you could run some solar panels to power the suction engine. By doing so you wouldn't use any fuel.
- Placing exhaust to fill vacuum behind car.
- Redirecting air heated by the radiator either over the hood or behind the front wheels.
- Variable opening grille.
- I think smooth wheel covers will reduce both drag and wheel induced lift.
- AFAIK all rear wings will increase drag.
- Fender holes to reduce lift caused by rotating wheels. Be aware fender louvers will increase drag.
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A big reason F1 cars have a high Cd is because they are an open wheel car. Yes the wings also increase this, but the open wheels are why they are as high as they are. Their "low downforce low drag" setup for tracks like Monza still create lots of drag.
How does a diffuser over 4 degrees magically make drag, but 3 degrees don't??? This is such a broad statement and not true. Any diffuser itself creates drag because it creates induced drag. However in a system that utilizes a diffuser well should reduce drag because it "fills in" the low pressure region behind the car.
How does fender louvers automatically cause drag?