Does it really make your car look good? Stunning!? Fascinating? Pogi points? ... Do I really need that? What does it really?
They simply call it a rear wing. It's an aero dynamic device usually used in automobile racing that helps produce downforce as the air passes around it. Please do not confuse yourself by thinking I'm talking about the spoiler. A spoiler is an automotive aerodynamic device whose intended design function is to 'spoil' unfavorable air movement across a body of a vehicle in motion. Spoilers are often fitted to race and high-performance sports cars, although they have become common on passenger vehicles, as well. Some spoilers are added to cars primarily for styling purposes and have either little aerodynamic benefit or even make the aerodynamics worse.First of all I want to talk about downforce. Aero Dynamics 101: From the word itself, Downforce. It's a force produced to help push an object down. To make it more imaginable, try to put the palm of your hand on top of a desk without pushing your hand down on the desk. Just put it on top and let it sit on top on it's own weight. Now try moving it sidewards left to right. You will notice that your palm is rubbing through the desk freely. Now Same scenario, put your hand back on top of the desk but this time try to put pressure on it and actually push your palm down and then after applying pressure try moving it from left to right. As you can see, it's much harder to move it because of the weight/force that's pushing it down. It makes the palm of your hand stick on top of the desk. So why is it used in racing?
Below are pictures of The Ferrari F2007. The car that Kimi Raikkonen used to win the World Drivers title in the 2007 season of the FIA Formula 1 World Championship.
As you can clearly see that this car has some serious design issues. It does'nt look like a car anymore. Only because of it's wheels that you are able to determine that it's a car.
Looking at it's design, you will notice that it has lots of wings on it. The most noticeable once are the front and rear wing. As air passes through this wings when the car is at speed. It will push the car down on the ground (Downforce). Sometimes when it's really going really really fast it sometimes makes the weight of the car 3 times it's normal weight when standing still. So the faster the car goes, the faster the air passes through the wing. The faster the air passes through the wing, the more downforce is generated.
If there is downforce meaning a car can go around bends and corners faster without slipping or sliding the car. Downforce helps push the the tires of the cars down on the road to get more grip. Exactly the same way when you pushed the palm of your hand on the table (with our experiment earlier). That is one reason why racing cars have these wings. So the drivers/pilots can drive the car not just fast on the straights but also quick around the bends or corners.
With the combination of good grippy sticky tires, wings that can generate tremendous amount of downforce and a very big and brutally powerful engine. A car with all these 3 factors can go around a circuit very quick.
How fast or how much time do you think can the F2007 go around a 7 kilometer circuit? A circuit with corners and bends that a car needs to break and slow down to get around it. 7 minutes?, 10 minutes?, 5 minutes?, 12 minutes? Your wrong! Kimi Raikkonen drove the F2007 around the a 7 kilometer circuit (Spa Franchorchamp racing circuit in Belgium) in 1:45.994. That's under 2 minutes around a 7 kilometer road. What the video below to see how kimi does it around the circuit.
Because of the powerful engine the car can really thunder down on the straight line. But if you watch closely and listen to steve the commentator. You'll notice that Kimi is driving the car so fast in the corners and the car is allowing him to do that because of the downforce. It gives him confidence to go really fast in the corners because there is so much grip available because of the downforce.
As you can clearly see that this car has some serious design issues. It does'nt look like a car anymore. Only because of it's wheels that you are able to determine that it's a car.Looking at it's design, you will notice that it has lots of wings on it. The most noticeable once are the front and rear wing. As air passes through this wings when the car is at speed. It will push the car down on the ground (Downforce). Sometimes when it's really going really really fast it sometimes makes the weight of the car 3 times it's normal weight when standing still. So the faster the car goes, the faster the air passes through the wing. The faster the air passes through the wing, the more downforce is generated.
If there is downforce meaning a car can go around bends and corners faster without slipping or sliding the car. Downforce helps push the the tires of the cars down on the road to get more grip. Exactly the same way when you pushed the palm of your hand on the table (with our experiment earlier). That is one reason why racing cars have these wings. So the drivers/pilots can drive the car not just fast on the straights but also quick around the bends or corners.
With the combination of good grippy sticky tires, wings that can generate tremendous amount of downforce and a very big and brutally powerful engine. A car with all these 3 factors can go around a circuit very quick.
How fast or how much time do you think can the F2007 go around a 7 kilometer circuit? A circuit with corners and bends that a car needs to break and slow down to get around it. 7 minutes?, 10 minutes?, 5 minutes?, 12 minutes? Your wrong! Kimi Raikkonen drove the F2007 around the a 7 kilometer circuit (Spa Franchorchamp racing circuit in Belgium) in 1:45.994. That's under 2 minutes around a 7 kilometer road. What the video below to see how kimi does it around the circuit.
Because of the powerful engine the car can really thunder down on the straight line. But if you watch closely and listen to steve the commentator. You'll notice that Kimi is driving the car so fast in the corners and the car is allowing him to do that because of the downforce. It gives him confidence to go really fast in the corners because there is so much grip available because of the downforce.
Downforce is a very crucial element in racing as it gives you the edge to win a race.
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