question about aerodynamics on my 323

[freebeard]

Originally Posted by aerohead

The lowest pressure on your car is near the A-pillars where the air is accelerating violently around those corners.

This is why I was thinking the wind deflector might help. Here's one example:


Having seen your gallery, my first thought is "that's not a race that's a traffic jam." I assume that's a pace lap. My second thought "That's a lot of fresh paint over poor surface prep."

How long is the track? Aerodynamics really doesn't help below 45 mph. Below 20mph there is no effect at all, then it goes up exponentially. so the drag at 25mph is 1/4 the drag at 50 and the drag at 50 is 1/4 the drag at 100.

Pull all the glass less the windshield and use a 3/4 tonneau cover, and use skrink-wrap plastic to cover the headlights and unblocked grill opening.

I am planning on doing tons of aero mods on it to reduce drag and increase downforce over the front tires to help turn the car better

For traction, add a bull guard:

and fill it with lead. That will improve traction at all speeds. (Porsche used to put 70lb of lead in the right end of the front bumper to counterbalance the driver's weight)

[mcrews]

we do bump and rub other cars a bit,.....

Ok.......

I looked at the pics........

If that's what 'a bit' makes a car look like

what the heck does 'alot' look like!!!!???????

[mcrews]

freebird said:
For traction, add a bull guard:

and fill it with lead. That will improve traction at all speeds. (Porsche used to put 70lb of lead in the right end of the front bumper to counterbalance the driver's weight)

What a great idea!

[ChazInMT]

I don't think there's much you can do to the 323 that will drastically change its Cd, yer kinda stuck with what you have. Having all the windows removed plays hell on trying to figure out how to make your car more aero. Aerodynamic things allow the air to return to where it was before you got there as gently as possible, so smooth shapes help. Open/missing windows are not smooth.

You are caught in a balancing act between downforce and drag, downforce creates drag. I would think you would try to do everything you could to improve the suspension of the car getting the car to have as much cornering grip as possible so you can carry as much speed as possible through corners. A car that can keep as much rubber on the track as possible would be better than on that slips through the air cleanly. I'd think horsepower and grip would be 85% of what you need to focus on.

My only aero suggestion would be Limbo.....as in "How low can you go!". That will reduce aero drag, create more downforce, and force you to tune the suspension to work opitimally.

Aerohead brought up a good point regarding exhaust, you may want to consider figuring out a way to get fresh air (fresher air) blowing on your face for both health and comfort. It got me to thinking about what would happen if OSHA monitored the air quality the NASCAR drivers breathe during a race.

[freebeard]

It seems you would want to locate the exhaust away from the center and as low as possible; sort of like this:



I like ahead of the rear wheel, but I don't think the wheelwell turbulence would help.

Here's a report on [a study that I have trouble loading]. It looks at where exhaust concentrates in the wake. It looks like you have to pay $41 to see where the exhaust pipe is located.