wing for lift?
 

I just had a thought... would a wing mounted on a vehicle to create lift, reduce rolling resistance enough to overcome the drag it would create?

No

A working rear wing spoiler decrease lift by adding down force.
If you were to angle the wing so it added lift you would be adding drag by the parachute effect of it. All that flowing air that was clear of the car is now thrown back onto the wing with a drag penalty that is much larger then the rolling resistance elevated.
My take on it, as the lift has such a large drag effect.

Reduction of downforce...converted to lift. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qX8iOmRkMpU

Right... as I thought more about it I realized that planes don't get particularly good fuel economy :rolleyes:

Hi chrisgerman1983,
This is only far-fetched by the standard of today's excellent tires and lubricants. There are wing profiles with L/D in the 20s. Rolling resistance for cars 50 or so years ago was as bad as 6% But... besides needing a lot of wing to do much good, you reduce traction by the same amount that you reduce RR, so you slide on turns and can't stop.

-mort

Depends on the plane. Some of the Rutan designs like the Longeze reportedly get upwards of 40 mpg - cruising at 165 mph.

Also, consider gliders.
-m

Oddly enough, I once had similar thoughts when I was young, around Jr. High school age.

My idea was to have a wheeled hovercraft, or more accurately a hovercar.

The goal was to reduce friction and rolling resistance just to the point where the traction from the wheels was enough to propel it.

In addition I would need enough sideways resistance (traction) to prevent the craft from sliding into the gutter or road shoulder. The crown of the road designed for water drainage can send a conventional hovercraft sideways into the ditch or curb. A usable hovercar would of course have to avoid this.

Such plans from the mind of a 13 year old. Never thought of curves/turning, nor the implications of stopping or even heavy rain and snowfall. Life was so much simpler then, I didn't have to contend with anything real.:D

Thanks for the replies! One of the big flaws in my thought process was that I was thinking about the wheight reduction from the lift, but I never considered the obvious benefit of wheight reduction... easier acceleration not rolling resistance. A lot of my thoughts are half baked sometimes ;)