Drag Wings

[gttouring]

wings of all sorts sprout on cars from F1, champ car, top fuel,touring cars and even some super trucks from the late 80's in australia...
so what or how does the long flat deck wing on NHRA/IHRA Prostock drag cars work?http://www.nhra.com/2004/gallery/index.html
prostock section,
if these work in cutting drag and increasing rear down force why not include them in all racing?

[Chucky]

They wouldn't be all that efficient in lift/drag ratio compared to a proper wing arrangement. It looks more like a way of getting around some sort of restriction in max. height rather than a better way to build a mousetrap.

[DaveStyles]

I had to go have a look at the pictures to see what you were talking about... thats weird !!

its a big flat deck sticking out the back of the car ! Not as obvious in the pic you've posted above.

Could it primarily be a "turbulence inhibitor" type thing as well as a downforce thing ?

I presume these cars leave a massive turbulent wake.. which obviously equals massive drag ? could it be to help with that ?

(showing my inexperience with aerodynamics now)

[StephenRae]

I would guess the extension stops the air over the car from messing up any downforce created by the air exiting from underneath.
Nearly on this subject does anyone know how effective are the huge wings on American dirt track cars? The cars are truly awesome but would look better wihout the wing!

[shiny side up!]

The huge wings are very effective on sprint cars! Since they aren't going 150mph in corners and they run in very close proximity to other cars, little wings just wouldn't do much. The big side plates give them more aero stability at varying degrees of yaw... very necessary when they spend about half the lap with the tail end out! Add into all that their very low weight and very high engine output, and the wings have a massive effect on their lap times.

[Bob Riebe]

It seems to be similar to a spoiler type that Greenwood used on his last GTO Corvettes(wings were not allowed).
It worked well enought that IMSA told him to quit using it.
Bob

[protruck]

The reason Pro Stock cars have wings like this is rules. It is all they are allowed, a maximum length of 14" and the spill plates can on be a certain size also. The wing angle is changed by lengthening struts under the the wing attached to the body. For maximum downforce and minimum drag most Pro Stock racers raise the center of thte wing compared to the outer edges. The latest fad is to have a flat wing and then have a removable 90 degree wicker bill. This means the wicker can be changed out to generate more or less downforce as required. As all these cars have data logging from their shock travel is is easy to see if there is enough downforce. Hope this helps

[Carse]

Didnt the 917k have this "wing" configuration? some one nailed a large sheet of metal to the rear deck to improve handling as it was a right thing to muscle around the track? am i right in thinking hurley haywood?