One interesting thing about this car was how well it braked in the wet. They reckoned the front-front tyres removed the water from the road, leaving the rear-front tyres to brake like they were on a dry road.
When did they test this or was this more computer VOODOO?:confused5: How would the fronts sweep the rain off for the rears when they arent even close to being in the same track? Has anyone considered the lack of front downforce in this design....:idea:
He didn't say the fronts cleared for the rears, the front-front tires cleared the road for the second set of front tires, the rear-fronts. They're definitely in the same track.
Wait a minute, there are 4 front tires? I didn't see that before but it would somewhat explain the shape of the nose and why they think it will corner OK with such narrow front tires......
OK, I was really getting confused there, as I looked at the pics of the Delta car and I didn't see where the rear set of front tires would go..... So I still don't understand why they think this will have good front bite with such narrow tread, it seems to me it would just understeer straight ahead.
Not necessarily. I recall something about turning ability from the solar car races where they found narrower tires responded better in turns. Don't ask me what the physics of it were. The memory is fuzzy at best.
Yes but, that's on a car that weighs next to nothing, so the pressure per square inch on the tread would be better on a narrow tire and still give grip. If you turn the scenario around, using a narrow tire on a heavy car increases the psi on the tire patch, but the extra weight and force will easily overcome that grip. IMHO of course. On top of that, even if they get massive amounts of HP out of the 1600cc motor - say 500hp - will that compare to those running close to 1000hp or more - and with huge amounts of grip? I don't know the answers to these questions, I could be all wet and they may have designed the "next big thing", if so more power to them!
Narrow front track + narrow front tires + Low front downforce + wide rear track + wide rear tires + high rear downforce = severe high speed understeer. If they prove that equation to be wrong, I'll eat a bug. Note: A delta wing aircraft works well because it is steered from the very rear. 2cents
z'actly how I see it too...... Likewise, if they can get enough aero downforce on the front to get it to turn in, won't that cause a lot of drag, needing lots more HP? They must have already thought of these things as well, so I'll be interested to see how or if this thing works in the real world. Are they aiming for a LeMans appearance THIS year?
The weight they claimed to be shooting for is 475kg or about 1045lb. As a reference point, a quick web search says an Audi R18 weighs approx 900-925kg or approx 2000lb. They also claimed they would have half the aero drag and their 300hp target would be a bit more than half that of the Audi. The power to weight / aero drag ratio target is about right (though I'm still expecting understeer in anything other than a straight line).
The less power you have the less you have to move each additional pound in fuel and driver too..... Steve can you set up a pole here and lets see how many think they will even turn a lap in the race?
To late in this thread...sorry. I can create a poll thread. Some design thoughts... The Delta Wing will _____ at Le Mans... 1. Never make it past the spring test event. 2. Break in qualifying 3. Start and terminal break in the 1st hour 4. Terminal Break in the 2nd hour. . . . 25. Terminal Brake in the 23rd hour 26. Finish
The ACO press conference announcing announcing the competitors of the 24 hours of Le Mans 2012 is live right now. The Deltawing is on the official list. It will run "outside classification" as an experimental entry. I believe the idea is to let it run this year as a demonstrator platform as a small, lightweight, low drag, low horsepower, fuel efficient option for the future and then (if it's successful...big IF there :wink decide how to classify it and vehicles of its type for future competition.
Sounds if they are allowing a slow moving chicane for testing in the LeMans 24.... Who exactly will this benefit, the drivers who will have to dodge them in the middle of the night? Does this mean it will have no minimum performance standard to meet? They already have to many drivers that don't belong in the race, now this..... :screwy:
Why are we such naysayers about the Delta Wing concept, cause it is different? Why not let it have a chance before we collectively dump all over it. I may not be a big fan of the way it looks and we certainly won't be driving things that look like that anytime soon but at least let them push the envelope to try and prove the concept.