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The modern Formula One car is a single-seat, open-cockpit, open-wheel racing car with substantial front and rear wings, large wheels, and a turbocharged engine positioned behind the driver. The monocoque is constructed of reinforced carbon fibre , lined with kevlar and fire resistant materials to protect the drivers from high impact crashes and ...
The term drag area derives from aerodynamics, where it is the product of some reference area (such as cross-sectional area, total surface area, or similar) and the drag coefficient. In 2003, Car and Driver magazine adopted this metric as a more intuitive way to compare the aerodynamic efficiency of various automobiles.
The front wheels of an open-wheeled F1 car generate aerodynamic drag. The thinking behind the Tyrrell P34 was that this drag effect could be reduced by using smaller diameter tyres at the front. At the time, conventional F1 front wheels would measure around 16" (40 cm) diameter but Tyrrell planned to use just 10" (25 cm) diameter wheels.
In Formula One, the DRS opens an adjustable flap on the rear wing of the car, in order to reduce drag, thus giving a pursuing car an overtaking advantage over the car in front. The FIA estimate the speed increase to be between 10–12 km/h (6.2–7.5 mph) by the end of the activation zone, [ 8 ] while others, such as technical staff at racecar ...
Automotive aerodynamics differs from aircraft aerodynamics in several ways: The characteristic shape of a road vehicle is much less streamlined compared to an aircraft. The vehicle operates very close to the ground, rather than in free air. The operating speeds are lower (and aerodynamic drag varies as the square of speed).
The creation of downforce by passive devices can be achieved only at the cost of increased aerodynamic drag (or friction), and the optimum setup is almost always a compromise between the two. The aerodynamic setup for a car can vary considerably between race tracks, depending on the length of the straights and the types of corners.
The North American P-51 Mustang makes significant use of the Meredith effect in its belly radiator design. [1]The Meredith effect is a phenomenon whereby the aerodynamic drag produced by a cooling radiator may be offset by careful design of the cooling duct such that useful thrust is produced by the expansion of the hot air in the duct.
Top: Lateral view; the red circles mark the front air dam/splitter and rear diffuser. Bottom: Rear. A diffuser, in an automotive context, is a shaped section of the car rear which improves the car's aerodynamic properties by enhancing the transition between the high-velocity airflow underneath the car and the much slower freestream airflow of the ambient atmosphere.