Car aerodynamics

9.2.1 Car aerodynamics

Having mentioned about aerodynamics above, it would not be desirable to bypass this most important property of a car body and the car as a whole at present. For reference: the resistance of the air to the movement of the car increases in proportion to the squared velocity of the car. And in case of a further increase in speed it tends to cubic dependence. It is for this reason about 60 years ago attention was payed to the aerodynamics of the car.

The car moves, and the air resists, acting on it. In case if the aerodynamic coefficient is low, then the car body is quite streamlined. And the car body is kind of penetrated while moving. In case if this ratio is high, the car spends a lot of its power to push in front of a considerable mass of air.

Note
The aerodynamic coefficient is an indicator, which characterizes the smoothness of the car body.

Figure 9.2 Schematic diagram of airflows around cars with good (upper image) and poor (lower image) aerodynamic qualities.

The car, which has a teardrop-shaped body, is ideal from the point of view of aerodynamics.

However, just making a streamlined body is not the solution to the problem. As practice has shown, among other things, it is necessary to properly distribute the weight of the car on the axles, in order to make the "correct" shape of the body panel in order to direct airflow in a given direction.

In case if the car is powerful enough, for example Porsche 911, then after reaching a certain speed of the downforce acting on the car from the oncoming air flow, will not be enough. Manufacturers install additional aerodynamic elements that can load, and to put it simply, additionally press the car to the road due to the flow of air in order to maintain full contact of the tires of the wheels with the surface.

Attention
It should always be remembered that self-installed aerodynamic elements, not foreseen by the manufacturer, can only harm, and in some cases even lead to unpleasant consequences. Additional elements may only be installed by a licensed competent tuning company.