Quote:
Originally Posted by Hefty  Does aerodynamics have any importance in dragracing?
In racing in general downforce is very important and you build even floors, adjust for rake, use Venturi tunnels and diffusers and so on.
Does anyone care about that stuff when it comes to dragrace? |
Above 100 mph, escessive drag in a drag race is, well, a real drag.
If you look at high performance 1/4 mile racers, you'll see some pretty big wings, mostly mounted near the lines of the bodywork and designed to lengthen the car's upper air/body area and clean up drag and supply some downforce over the driving wheels. They also are often equipped with spoilers and their front ends are dropped as close to the pavement as possible.
Road racers have very different aerodynamic concerns, but the common response is still spoilers and wings.
Formula One and similar racing venues feature very exotic wing shapes and are capable of literally "gluing" themselves down to the track when they achieve the designed speed. Some of these cars are theoretically capable of running UPSIDE DOWN (say, in a tunnel like the MIB movie) because their downforce is higher than the force of gravity!
But to answer your question, yeah, aerodynmics come into play in ALL racing - but in very different ways depending on the type of racing.
Aerodynamics and dragracing? 
