tyre areo question

[honest ron]

ok,...... i was wondering about something,..... i was at a williams ex designer's seminar ages ago, and he said that 40% of an f1 cars areodynamic resistence comes from the 4 tyres (wheels and tyres).

having kept this in mind , i have noticed the renaults new front wing system,.....they've changed from the central triangle design from last year like jordan had and use the end plates to shove as much of the air above the tyre as possible, whilst primarily enhancing downforce of course

my question is this, ..... is it more efficient to have the air run above the central point of the tyre or below the central point of the tyre ?...... considering the direction that the tyre is rolling, maybe it would run smoother underneath but would the air be trapped slightly and reduce downforce ? just a thought.......

[Arneal]

It is better to have the air go above the central point of the tire. As you suggest may happen, the air near the tires contact patch stagnates and creates lift on the tire.

Open wheel race cars not only derive large amounts of their total drag from the wheels, but the wheels also create lift. This is partially due to the stagnation mentioned above and partially due to their airfoil like shape. Aerodynamically speaking, open wheels are terrible things!

[honest ron]

then is there a regulation which stipulates the width of a front wing ?.... and also why dont all the f1 teams use the little extension to help reduce the airflow problem ?.....

im no expert , in fact quite the opposite ! but have a look at the mc laren, ......they definately know their stuff i guess yet they seem to prefer to catch the air and direct it into the body of the car heres an example : http://www.f1i.com/data/images/F12F0...KON_ACT6_1.jpg

thanks for the reply,..... arneal !!!!! the forums are a great way to learn and understand better the advanced nature of motor sport !! much appriciated

[imull]

McLaren had a wing similar to the one shown on the renault. All tams use a win that try to divert the airflow outside of the tyres.

I wonder if they tried that as I reckon that it will direct a large amount of airflow into the side pods and therefore help cooling. This also makes me wonder if their engine woes last year were over heating related...

[Dino IV]

It's not that they try to lead the airflow outside of the tires but inside of them. Look at a F1 car from above and you'll have to imagine the airflow densing in a 'feminine' or coca-cola bottle form. From the wing endplates inwards, following the bargeboard, inbetween centering towards the splitter, then outwards along the sidepods, end before the rear wheels carving strongly in again towards the diffuser and rear wing. All these motions guided as much as possible by vortices created by i.e. the wingendplate form and attached parts, the bargeboard upper edge etc. This is mostly for the part which is under the wheel centrelines.

[RWC]

Great stuff.Just wanted to add abit of silly trivia.people have trid to make aircraft with 'wings' that are actually rotating cylinder shapes.It did create lift but drag must have been horrendous