[A-Snake]

David,

This is such an interesting subject I had to do some homework. I received this information from a computational aerodynamicist on one of the F1 teams.

"While the PEAK value of longitudinal acceleration on a Cobra is approximately the same as the PEAK value of its deceleration, maximum acceleration tails-off as speed increases, whereas maximum deceleration remains nearly constant. Add to this the fact that on an F-1 car, in particular, the peak acceleration is around 1.5G's, whereas the peak deceleration is close to 6.0G's, and it’s clear that deceleration generally is the significantly more severe condition. This conclusion applies to high-performance cars of every type and from every era."

"All other things being equal, one should choose the thread handedness such that inertial forces tighten the center-lock nuts under braking. The wheels on the right-hand (i.e., relative to the seated driver) side of the car rotate clockwise. Hence, under braking, the inertial loads on right-hand-side wing nuts are clockwise. For clockwise loads to tighten, the thread on the right-hand-side wing nuts must be right-handed. The same logic dictates left-hand threads on the left-hand-side wing-nuts."

It appears that traditional thinking has been 'reversed' all these years