Trying to remember something about aero
 

I had an idea a few days ago, and while I was thinking about it, it seemed like a good idea... and that's as much as I remember.

I should have written it down, for sure. Undoubtedly, my Son needed something, and he's more important to me than my musings.

What I actually remember is that it had something to do with aerodynamics, and lift vs downforce.

I remember building a vehicle that was highway capable (obviously), but it was an open-wheel type vehicle.

I think the basic idea was to build the body in a streamline shape, without regard to lift, and then skirt the wheels to keep down force. The net result was a car that, while the body would lift some, would keep the tires planted to the ground, and only a small amount of the car's aero would be attributed to downforce, the rest would just be streamlined, without regard to lift.

That's all I've got though... and I just can't picture what I was thinking of.

Anyone have any ideas?

ive been thinking of something similar, im thinking the ultimate in drag reduction would be to have 0 lift, positive or negative, hard to do in real life, but thats what im going to work towards in my car

THAT brings back something...

I think the cumulative effect was close to 0 lift, with the suspension providing the link to the anchors (tires) which were positively loaded by aerodynamics.

What th...?

Having a NET lift of 0 is a lot different than having neutral lift!

Lift=drag in any vector.

So you'd have the body's upward lift creating drag and the wheel spats fairings' downward lift creating drag.

Thats exactly what i was thinking....:thumbup:

The goal would be 0 lift in all directions (Most importantly going forward), not combined nuetral lift.

Hey, It was a half-idea that I thought about while doing 10 other things... I'm not even sure that was the real idea, but it seems familiar. I'm still working on remembering what it was, but as yet, I can't figure it out.

While reading the OP, I kept thinking of the Aptera. The body is shaped a bit like an airfoil, and the wheel fairings could be made wedge-shaped.