Quote:
Originally Posted by MetroMPG
So the fin is for crosswind stability?
Thank TestDrive for the formatting - I just pasted his work into your post.  |
I think so.Morelli licked the stability issue,but it came a little later,and the sharp-edged front fenders on the M-B lend themselves to cross-wind issues.Morrelli rounded everything dramatically to let pressures bleed away.The tapering tail doesn't have much of a "moment" in gusts,and the vertical stabilizer adds some area aft,to help maintain the CP behind the CG,to provide for "oversteer",which is preferred at high speed.If the car should "weather-vane",it will turn itself into the wind,canceling the yawing moment.Should the car have more area in the front,if it yaws away from the gust it will "catch" more air,turning a larger "face" at the gust,and the yawing moment can increase to a level such that the driver's steering inputs cannot compensate.Don Schroeder,the fella that tested my CRX at Chrysler was killed in the wreck of a RennSport V-12 Mercedes at Ft.Stockton(where A.J.Foyt fought hellacious crosswinds in the OLDS Aerotech).The investigation was unresolved last time I looked. It looks like the engine blew,and if he was in a controlled power-slide at the time,he would not have had power to control the rearend.If the winds were strong that day,as they often are,he may have had too much to compensate for without the power.------- These speeds are obviously potentially lethal,and I suspect Mercedes wanted to stack the deck,best they could in the event of bad air with the C-111.