The EVOLUTION of Aerodynamics

Important were the small skirts that intentionally touched the ground at all times, maintaining that suction under the car. Another notable car was the Brabham Alfa Romeo BT46B fan car, which used a horizontal fan. Brabham claimed that the fan cooled the engine, but it actually reduced the air pressure under the car, effectively sucking it onto the track. Other racers complained about the fan throwing debris in their faces, and when another car lost oil on the track, it apparently gave the fan car an unbeatable advantage, as it could exert enough downforce to essentially negate the slippery effect of the oil.

That's fucking sick. The fan car lasted only three races before Formula 1 caught up and banned so-called fan car designs entirely. (gun cocks) So with all these admittedly necessary safety regulations strangling Formula 1 and other racing leagues, where could a racing fan turn if they wanted to see what the cars would look like if they took advantage of all these newly developed ? , aerodynamic advantages? The answer was the Can-Am Challenge Cup, which ran from 1966 to 1987. At that time, Can-Am cars were often timed with faster laps than their Formula 1 counterparts. They were governed by what was called the regulations. from group 7.

These rules were basically that there were no rules. There are no rules about engine size, there are no rules about vehicle weight, there are no rules about turbochargers, superchargers, basically everything was allowed, just add seat belts and wear a helmet. And as for ground effects, as you may have guessed, there were no rules. The McLaren team was especially dominant in the early years of Can-Am. Instead of resorting to tricks, their cars were known for their refined designs and extensive tuning. Tragically, Bruce McLaren died while testing the Can-Am McLaren M8D, as the rear bodywork separated from the car, causing it to lose downforce and spinning it into a flag station.

Bruce was quite an iconic figure in Formula 1. If you want to know more about his life, check out our series on McLaren on Past Gas. He has three parts and is really good, I think you should check him out. In later years, the Porsche 917 was an especially dominant car, with more than 1,500 horsepower that guzzled so much gas that even Can-Am had to change its fuel efficiency rules in response. Just look at this thing. That's a lot of downforce. Perhaps the strongest contender for aerodynamic innovation in the Can-Am era was (stutters)... Era (stutters)... Chaparral Race Cars, founded by Hap Sharp and Jim Hall.

They aggressively pushed the boundaries of aerodynamic design. His greatest achievement was the original 2J, not to be confused with the 2JZ, a racing car that used two engines. A massive Chevy drove the car, while a secondary motor taken from a snowmobile powered two fans located in the rear of the 2J. These fans sucked air in from beneath the car, which was effectively vacuum sealed by these side skirts, essentially drawing the car onto the road. Pretty sick. The 2J was too crazy even for Can-Am, and would be banned shortly after its introduction, and then made its way into "Gran Turismo 4" as a really fun car to drive.

All of these advances in science would continue to cause headaches for racing associations trying to provide the safest, fairest and most exciting entertainment to racing fans. Which brings us to (cough)... dirty air. If you follow Formula 1, you've probably already heard about dirty air. Remember at the beginning of this video, when I mentioned that turbulence was the most important factor in

aerodynamics

? (car acceleration) If a car can avoid creating unnecessary turbulence, it is naturally more aerodynamic. But what if the air hitting the car is already turbulent? Behind every racing car there is an area of ​​turbulence, of dirty air.

This reduces the pursuing vehicle's ability to generate downforce and grip its tires to the ground as effectively. The more cars you follow, the more you will suffer from the effects of dirty air. And when it's harder to catch up, that means worse racing. The solution? Well, in theory, making these cars less reliant on downforce would make dirty air less of a problem. But downforce is also what makes a car so aerodynamic and fast. It's a paradox that Formula 1 still struggles with today. Here in the United States, IndyCar solved the dirty air problem by designing their cars to generate more downforce from ground effects, and we can expect Formula 1 to do the same in 2022.

Hey, I managed to explain dirty air without making a fart joke It's not to brag or anything like that. - Boom! - We have traveled through the entire 20th century and now we return to the present. What is the state of modern car

aerodynamics

? Well, well... Well... (laughs) Well, have you ever noticed that all the cars on the road today look the same? It turns out that dedicating your design to reducing that all-important drag coefficient is, well, kind of a drag, and that's because, in their quest to improve mileage, automakers are drawn to the same scientific design principles. aerodynamic.

Basically every car today is a Tropfenwagen, also known as a teardrop car, because they all follow nature's ideal aerodynamic design. When a raindrop falls vertically on the Earth, it takes the shape of least resistance and that, in turn, is the ideal shape for an aerodynamic car that moves horizontally across the Earth. On the plus side, even today's less flashy consumer cars are incredibly aerodynamic compared to their predecessors. The new challenge for automobile designers is to find new and innovative variations on what we now know to be the best ideal aerodynamic shape. Furthermore, in the future we could have so much renewable energy that we could forget about drag coefficient entirely and just build whatever looks cool.

We could be driving on Mars, where the air is 100 times thinner and there is no need to worry about air resistance. But I personally want to live underwater like SpongeBob and I have to deal with some aquadynamics. I'll get my boater's license and drive a burger cart. Alright, I hope you enjoyed that episode on aerodynamics. I think I learned a lot, I hope you do too. If you haven't subscribed to Donut yet, consider it, it would really help us. And check out our podcast, Past Gas, on his other channel, Donut Podcasts. Follow Donut on social media @donutmedia, follow me @nolanjsykes.

Be nice, see you next time. (beep) Influence of art deco on automobiles. (farts) And we begin to see the...