Quote:
Originally Posted by sgtlethargic
I believe I've heard on this forum that aerodynamic cars have stability issues. Is that true? How so? What can be done about it?
Thanks
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I mean if you look at a regular bicycle vs a velomobile, you'll find that the aerodynamic fairing on the bike makes it vulnerable to lateral winds, which is why most velomobiles are tricycles instead of bicycles. Here's a quote from
the wikipedia article on them:
"The fairing on a velomobile sometimes makes it more subject to cross-winds than a similar unfaired cycle. The effect of cross-winds is complicated because the force of the wind can act as a steering force, as-if the rider had tried to steer the cycle. "Wind steer" can be a safety issue and may also hurt performance, as a serpentine path is longer and thus slower than a straight line. Thus, a design with inferior aerodynamics may be better overall. For example, it is common for time-trial bicycles to use a solid disk rear wheel for best aerodynamics, and a spoked front wheel that has worse aerodynamics than a disk, but is less likely to steer the bicycle in a cross-wind."
Something like a boattail that increases the length of the vehicle substantially could very well affect lateral stability from crosswinds, but I feel like the majority of mods centered on streamlining will not have a negative effect, since most of them focus on the front profile of the vehicle and decreasing the trailing wake.