At 11:07 PM 8/29/01 -0700, Gary K. McCormick wrote:
I think that it was
>in F1 (or maybe indy cars - I can't remember) some years back that some very
>clever fellows used specifically-shaped channels in the bottom of the car to
>accelerate the flow of air under the bottom of the car, increasing its
>velocity, which decreases its pressure, creating a negative delta P, or
>downforce.
>
>Gary McCormick
>San Jose, CA
They've been shaping the underpans of racecars to create downforce for
years. The channel actually swoopes up at the back (think upside down
wing), and some of the cars generate hundreds of pounds of downforce.
Literally, if the cars wanted to and could maintain speed, they could drive
upside down because the downforce is greater than the total weight of the car!
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