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The magnitude of the downforce created by the wings or spoilers on a car is dependent primarily on three things: The shape, including surface area, aspect ratio and cross-section of the device, The device's orientation (or angle of attack), and; The speed of the vehicle. A larger surface area creates greater downforce and greater drag. The ...
Downforce describes the downward pressure created by the aerodynamic characteristics of a car that allows it to travel faster through a corner by holding the car to the track or road surface. Some elements to increase vehicle downforce will also increase drag.
Starting in the mid-1960s, 'wings' were routinely used in the design of race cars to increase downforce (which is not a type of ground effect). Designers shifted their efforts at understanding air flow around the perimeter, body skirts, and undersides of the vehicle to increase downforce with less drag than compared to using a wing.
There's even an F1-inspired drag-reduction system (DRS), activated by a button on the steering wheel that automatically puts the car in its lowest-downforce configuration. ... This increase in ...
A retractable front spoiler can reduce the scraping of the car on curbs or other road imperfections, while still reducing drag at high speeds. Powered fans, such as in the Chaparral 2J, do the equivalent of spoilers and increase the downforce, hence the traction and handling of the vehicle (See ground effect). Research continues on the use of ...
Lowering the drag coefficient comes from streamlining the exterior body of the vehicle. Streamlining the body requires assumptions about the surrounding airspeed and characteristic use of the vehicle. Cars that try to reduce drag employ devices such as spoilers, wings, diffusers, and fins to reduce drag and increase speed in one direction. [4]
The result is less drag for both cars, allowing faster speeds. [3] Handling in corners is affected by balance changes caused by the draft: the leading car has normal front downforce but less rear downforce. The trailing car has less front downforce but normal rear downforce.
Open windows also increase drag, which some analysts say offsets the benefit of turning off the AC. But Consumer Reports found that opening the windows caused an insignificant drop in mpg, even at ...