Quote:
Originally Posted by texanidiot25
Possibly this weekend I'll grab an old magazine article I have at my home, I think from hotrod mag of an 89 NASCAR Monte Carlo vs. a Lemans Porsche LMP car. Despite the Monte Carlo having a near stock-car body and obviously a boxier car, was able to reach higher top-speeds and had less of a Cd. thanks to it's smaller frontal area.
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NASCAR Monte Carlos have next to zero downforce. An LMP car should produce tremendous downforce at high speeds. Increasing downforce will increase Cd (I guess the opposite of lift/drag ratio....anti-lift/drag ratio?) so at say 170mph the stock car is probably weight-neutral and pulling through the air but the LMP car's tires are about flattened and suspension bottomed and drag-limited which isn't a problem in their racing series since the fastest those cars ever go is down the Mulsanne at LeMans but typically go much slower through tight turns without banking. Different cars for different purposes.