Thx lads, now we are getting somewhere!
I just find this topic very interesting, and it has so many facets. Let me first comment on Zedmans post...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zedman
Read the conclusion, there is a big mistake
"The reason is quite simple: R/C cars are too small and go too fast"
RC cars do not go too fast they do 'scale' speeds and weight has nothing to do with it.
They actually go relativly slowly cornering at under 40 miles an hour (do they even get up to 40mph on the straights on some tracks)
Aero dynamics only come into effect at SPEED, (google inverse square law), this is the reason you only see race cars running spoilers, yes a formula 1 car can theoreticaly stick to the ceiling upside down at 200mph BUT the spoilers would have virtulaly no effect at 50 mph, its the same with plane areo foils, for a jet to take off it has to go very FAST due to having small wings, for slow speed take off ie gliders, planes employ massive wing spans and still need a reasonable speed.
Spoilers look cool but dont really work, when was the last disscusion you saw regarding wing angles on a car doing under 50 mph ?
|
1) Speed: RC cars are on the contrary in my opinion insanely fast relative to scale. I'll stick for now to 1:8 TR which I know from many years of racing the class (only raced 1:10 OR one year ). They normally reach 110 km/h top speed. Which would have been 110*8 = 880 km/h for a real car (or is it ^8??? Don't recall...) So they are way too fast relative to scale. And cornering speeds are actually insane! I'd love to see some G-force recordings from these cars!!!
2) IMHO wings, shells and spoilers DO work even at very low cornering speeds. I've tried without the shell many times (1:8 TR), and there's absolutely no grip at all! The car's just sliding around from standstill! And bodyshell differences are highly noticeable even in low speed chicanes.
3) Spoilers, diffusers, splitters - all of it works, believe me! (The whole shell of a 1:8 track car is one big diffuser btw)
4) Buggies have open wheels, which create massive turbulence. So you can't do anything there, only over and between (wings and shell). And ground clearance is high, so ground effects won't come into play. I still think there is yet some to be gained by optimizing aerodynamics. RC competition is getting closer all the time, it's the tiny details that often decide the outcome these days. Does the EFRA rules specify that the wheels must be open?
Question: In cases where one adds weight to a 1:10 OR car, when does it help the most? When accelerating out of a slow corner?