I never knew the wing was actually taller than the roof, I always wonder if someone actually put one of these cars on a wind tunnel to see how effective the extra aero is
I know the nosecone definitely is a big improvement but I’ve always wondered about the wing
I guess the sides of the wings would work as lateral stabilizers to help keep the car straight
Did you know that this is a street version of a race car? The aero is definitely functional. So functional, major rule changes were brought in to limit their advantage in Nascar.
Wow, they all looked pretty stock back then. I just looked it up and they had already been making track enhancements on the cars for a couple of decades by that point, but at least the cars looked like their stock equivalents. It wasn’t until 1990’s that they made the transition to fully dedicated racecars.
The roof line would have generated a lot of lift, so I suspect the wing helps (be high enough speeds). Aerodynamically it should be pretty efficient since the underside of the wing is unobstructed, but the OG wings were metal, so you were mostly just carrying around a weight penalty on your trunk.
The way the top slopes down on fastback cars draws air down with it, and creates a low pressure zone above the trunk, which results in a lifting force over the back wheels.
Edit: here’s a good 12 minute overview of common care shapes and aerodynamic drag and lift in 12 minutes.
I never knew the wing was actually taller than the roof, I always wonder if someone actually put one of these cars on a wind tunnel to see how effective the extra aero is
I know the nosecone definitely is a big improvement but I’ve always wondered about the wing
I guess the sides of the wings would work as lateral stabilizers to help keep the car straight
Did you know that this is a street version of a race car? The aero is definitely functional. So functional, major rule changes were brought in to limit their advantage in Nascar.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aero_Warriors
Wow, they all looked pretty stock back then. I just looked it up and they had already been making track enhancements on the cars for a couple of decades by that point, but at least the cars looked like their stock equivalents. It wasn’t until 1990’s that they made the transition to fully dedicated racecars.
Yeah I know win on Sunday sell on Monday, I wasn’t alive at the time but I’ve seen tons of documentaries and videos
The roof line would have generated a lot of lift, so I suspect the wing helps (be high enough speeds). Aerodynamically it should be pretty efficient since the underside of the wing is unobstructed, but the OG wings were metal, so you were mostly just carrying around a weight penalty on your trunk.
Why does the roof line generate lift?
The way the top slopes down on fastback cars draws air down with it, and creates a low pressure zone above the trunk, which results in a lifting force over the back wheels.
Edit: here’s a good 12 minute overview of common care shapes and aerodynamic drag and lift in 12 minutes.
https://youtu.be/n7EYKVEL7Ds