69427
The Artist formerly known as Turbo84
I was going to post this in the tech section, but that area doesn't look like it gets much attention.
A fellow VM member (I'll let him identify himself if he wishes) mentioned that the lift at speed on his car is due to the bodywork area in front of the radiator. While I don't have any actual data myself, it seems reasonable that this area would contribute to the front end lift. Given that this area (actually, a volume) in front of the radiator is a diffuser, changing high velocity air into pressure (to increase efficiency of airflow through all the radiator fins), the slight pressure gain over a large surface area would create a "measurable" force of lift. The reason for the lift, in my estimation, is more than just the possibility of a negative pressure on top of the bodywork (the shiny part) ahead of the hood, but the fact that the diffuser volume is not symmetrical top and bottom. The top is sealed, while the bottom is partially open due to the "bottom feeder" slots (which would be at ambient pressure). Does this make sense?
If so, I'm inclined to do an A-B comparison in the future, blocking off these slots (while monitoring the temp gauge, of course LOL) and do some higher speed runs. I'm unclear at the moment how I'll actually measure the lift, or change in suspension travel, though.
Just kicking around some ideas.
A fellow VM member (I'll let him identify himself if he wishes) mentioned that the lift at speed on his car is due to the bodywork area in front of the radiator. While I don't have any actual data myself, it seems reasonable that this area would contribute to the front end lift. Given that this area (actually, a volume) in front of the radiator is a diffuser, changing high velocity air into pressure (to increase efficiency of airflow through all the radiator fins), the slight pressure gain over a large surface area would create a "measurable" force of lift. The reason for the lift, in my estimation, is more than just the possibility of a negative pressure on top of the bodywork (the shiny part) ahead of the hood, but the fact that the diffuser volume is not symmetrical top and bottom. The top is sealed, while the bottom is partially open due to the "bottom feeder" slots (which would be at ambient pressure). Does this make sense?
If so, I'm inclined to do an A-B comparison in the future, blocking off these slots (while monitoring the temp gauge, of course LOL) and do some higher speed runs. I'm unclear at the moment how I'll actually measure the lift, or change in suspension travel, though.
Just kicking around some ideas.