I thought that new cars shouldnt flip like that Gauhagn did

pretty spectacular with a happy ending. Nascar has engineered the cars so this is a rare happening that cars go airborne. Aero baby. Another thing to notice is that Gaughan's trunk lid was tethered and didn't become a flying guillotine
 
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I mean it's never going to be perfect unless you literally bolt them to the ground. And fortunately he came back down and stuck the landing even getting a 10 from the Russian judge. But look at Logano when he got turned that car tried to turn over but didn't.
 
Formerjackman said:
I don't think taking off the front splitter would effect this one way or another. The side skirts, yes, but not the splitter
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The front valance they had before the splitter served the same purpose. It would be interesting to see what the differences were between the two in a wind tunnel. It has been years since the cars didn't have a form of side skirts or at least a drastic lowering from a "stock" car for the lose the skirt crowd. I think they forget all of the wrecks with cars airborne and barrel rolling or tearing up the fences that happened back in the 70's when they didn't have valances and low ride heights on the super speedways.
 
StandOnIt said:
I think they forget all of the wrecks with cars airborne and barrel rolling or tearing up the fences that happened back in the 70's when they didn't have valances and low ride heights on the super speedways.
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In the interests of accuracy, those cars didn't have roof or hood flaps either. Those have made as much difference as anything else (or more) in keeping cars on the ground.
 
Charlie Spencer said:
In the interests of accuracy, those cars didn't have roof or hood flaps either. Those have made as much difference as anything else (or more) in keeping cars on the ground.
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it's a whole system, but freak freely on which component is more important than the other oh skirt less one.
 
Ventisca said:


Booted like a ball up in the air.
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The car wont get airborne alone, its usually when they get launched by another car by getting hit at the right angle or actually climbing up on another car. Cant stop everthing
 
Formerjackman said:
I don't think taking off the front splitter would effect this one way or another. The side skirts, yes, but not the splitter
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Among other things, the front splitter reduces / minimizes the head-on airflow under the car. Removing it or replacing it with a 4' x 1' chunk of plywood riveted to the bottom of the front bumper is not a good idea.
 
aunty dive said:
Among other things, the front splitter reduces / minimizes the head-on airflow under the car. Removing it or replacing it with a 4' x 1' chunk of plywood riveted to the bottom of the front bumper is not a good idea.
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I'm curious why you think head on air is a "problem". It hasn't been that many years ago that these cars WERE up off the ground and the world didn't stop.
 
Air around and under the front of the car has to be "managed" to prevent lift.

It's been long enough that velocity has increased and with that, downforce / lift figures have increased by the factor dictated by the aerodynamic formulae in use. Velocity is the most significant element of said formulae because it's value is squared. Removing the splitter is a simple matter ... just reduce race speeds by the percentage indicated as necessary by your local aerodynamacist.
 
Beyond all of that, I will have to go out on another limb to declare that the front splitter isn't coming off.
 
aunty dive said:
Air around and under the front of the car has to be "managed" to prevent lift.

It's been long enough that velocity has increased and with that, downforce / lift figures have increased by the factor dictated by the aerodynamic formulae in use. Velocity is the most significant element of said formulae because it's value is squared. Removing the splitter is a simple matter ... just reduce race speeds by the percentage indicated as necessary by your local aerodynamacist.
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Are you suggesting this is what would happen if we took the front splitters off?


 
^ The video version of bombastic hyperbole. Those cars are much lighter and their terminal speeds at LeMans are higher than NASCAR’s anywhere. So, no ...

I’m suggesting that the splitter is a basic element of the aero package. Take it off and replace it with a flat sheet of aluminum and you get to throw away all your wind tunnel and CFD data ... in the face of a cost reduction effort that may drastically reduce time and money spent in that area.

It’s 2019. The splitter has been in use for a decade or so. The relentless parade to the glorious past goes nowhere.
 
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The cars have roll cages for a reason :idunno:

As long as we continue to race stock cars at 200 mph a few are gonna catch air. These guys know what they signed up for. The cars are as safe as they’ve ever been. Obviously no one wants to see cars fly into the stands or people to get hurt, but wrecks are part of motorsports. Always have been.
 
The talk of splitters and side skirts is really not relevant to this particular incident.

Brendan was turned and hit from the side by two cars, allowing air to catch under the car and lift it up.

Thinking about it, that has been the catalyst for most airborne cars from recent memory.

It seems the better solution is to spread the pack racing so that contact isnt made so quickly. But that unpopular solution will never fly, pun intended.
 
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