Aerodynamics of a Stock Car

Airflow is the prime factor in car design for racing. Producing more down force gives a car more control and stability but sacrifices speed. Car designers use fluid mechanics to find a properly balanced net down force for each car.

Racing teams have found a number of ways to increase the stabilizing downward pressure on the car. There are air dams or valances below the front bumper, rocker skirts below the side panels and spoilers on the rear deck. Spoilers are 57-inch-long flat panels about 6 inches tall, set at angles of as much as 60 or 70 degrees. Of all the down force enhancers, they figure most prominently in the aerodynamic strategy of racing. While necessary to give racecars adequate traction, down force becomes particularly critical in turns.

Drag is created from air pressures flowing over the car; drag is the car’s enemy because it robs horsepower and speed.

Some topics in this essay:
Car Draft, Approaching Car, View Ground, Racecar Fundamentals, Differentials Airflow, Theory Summary, RPM Strain, Pressure Diff, Numbered Gages, Safety Precautions, car draft, lead car, wind tunnel, drag force, roof rails, velocity pressure, velocity pressure charts, trailing car, car pressure, data gathered, interference drag, car draft #6, break streamlined airflow, side cars traveling, figure _ velocity,