|
remember the Stanley wrecked.. as with almost all pre mid 1960 cars it took off. streamlined cars had a bad rep in road racing. if you look at them from the side they looked something like wings. look at the vw bug and what it did at speed in a cross wind. after racing lightweight drag racers kept taking off at 120 they tested it. it wanted to lift off. and if a small crosswind hit it , it would. no mater what they did. Americans in the early to mid 60's found out about lift and tuned it into downforce. a American racer and car builder noted, like many others, his new more streamlined car's steering got lighter the faster he drove. unlike all the others he drilled a hole in the body and hooked a rod to the front suspension. that prover that the front was lifting with speed.. he put a wall under the front and found that keeping the air from going under the car was important. it cut lift, drag and gave him more speed. changing it to a snowplow made more drag and slowed him. but it made downforce and helped him corner faster. so many 60's tests have shown that keeping the air out of the under side of the car is a main part of cutting drag on real street cars. there were many write ups and real world testing in sports car magazine in the mid 60's.
|