Quote:
Originally Posted by Jac Mac
Your 'aerodynamic drag' is a factor at high speed, but more important is the aerodynamic downforce added to the cars static weight which increases the grip available from the tyres when operating at higher speeds. After all 'they' say that at around 200mph most modern single seaters develop enough downforce to enable them to be driven on an upside down surface ( and I dont mean any track downunder in S.A. Aussie, or NZ.)  . To accomplish this there has to be around 2g + of generated downforce. |
Jac Mac,
Yes, you are correct. I was attempting to simplify the discussion, but I can see from my earlier post I did a very poor job of "simplification!"
One thing to remember, is down force is by definition drag and Thomas and I use the terms relatively loosely around here. Certainly, down force creates more grip for the tires--braking, cornering, and accelerating (why else would they do it). As such, there is more than 1.5 g's of grip available to the tires when an F1 car is traveling at 200 mph for accelerating, cornering, and braking. Unfortunately, for those of us who have traveled at extremely high rates of speed in a Cobra we have found out first hand this in NOT true as we feel the nose lift and the steering wheel get this funny "light" feeling in it!
You can see where my "simplification" starts to get not so simple. (In my mind at least).
Most undoubtedly, I should have been more clear in what I was saying. I apologize for my unclarity. As you type you think what you are saying--but it doesn't always make it to the fingers!
David