Ed;
That "nose-down" rake was first widely used (as far as I know) in the design
of Can-Am cars in the ''68-'73 time frame. A good example is the McLaren
M8A: http://www.turbosracingphotos.com/CANAM/05bcar68.jpg
Its nose is very low and its body shape is roughly a wedge with a spoiler
across the rear. Later they went to rear wings for more downforce but the
added drag wasn't a problem with the power they had available. The
open-cockpit had a lot of drag anyway. Coupe- bodied cars had much lower
drag and higher top speed:
http://www.turbosracingphotos.com/CANAM/13ccar72.jpg
Your 'vette looks pretty clean!
Regards, Neil Tucson, AZ
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-land-speed@autox.team.net
[mailto:owner-land-speed@autox.team.net] On Behalf Of Ed Van Scoy
Sent: Wednesday, December 17, 2003 7:29 PM
To: Thomas E. Bryant
Cc: Glen Barrett; John Beckett; Land Speed List
Subject: Re: high speed stability
(1)It is much better to handle the air over the car than to
add ballast.
Tom;
That was the solution to my Vettes' handling "issues" also. As
someone already said, those of us with Production cars are
very limited as to what we can do to improve handling. About
the only allowed aero change is ride height and attitude. When
I first started with the car it handled well at 200 mph. As
things got better(faster) It began to move about a bit at
about 215. I tossed out the transverse leaf spring and put
coil-overs on the front. This allowed a whopping 5 inches of
lowering in the front (yes, the stock rubber spoiler DOES
scrape the salt at speed, but not the dirt at EM) After
playing with the rear height, I put it at about the stock
height. Seems that the "wedge" attitude gave me the best
stability, and it is a one-hand drive at 230 now. However, we
all know that every MPH "north" of the best time-slip is
uncharted territory, regardless of what you drive/ride. Guess
that's all part of what makes it fun.........
Ed
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