{"id":493646,"date":"2014-02-01T00:17:36","date_gmt":"2014-02-01T08:17:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportscardigest.com\/\/?p=13185"},"modified":"2024-01-10T11:55:46","modified_gmt":"2024-01-10T11:55:46","slug":"the-ugliness-of-the-wind-tunnel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/the-ugliness-of-the-wind-tunnel\/","title":{"rendered":"The Ugliness of the Wind Tunnel"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Let me just go ahead shout \u201cFire\u201d in a crowded theatre\u2026 aerodynamics have killed road racing. Perhaps I should refine that incendiary statement a bit\u2026aerodynamics have killed the aesthetics of road racing. In just the past few weeks, I\u2019ve had the opportunity to look at sneak peaks of some of next year\u2019s Formula One, Indy car and IMSA\/Le Mans racing machines and I have to say, both collectively and individually, they are some of the ugliest racecars I have ever laid eyes on. Of course, the driving force behind the increasing homeliness of these apex racing machines is the pursuit of aerodynamic downforce and efficiency. Yet it wasn\u2019t always this way.<\/p>\n

Up until the 1920s, a racecar\u2019s design was predominantly driven by its powertrain\u2014everything else was just the vessel that contained the horsepower. But as speeds increased, designers began to take notice of the impact that the passing wind and its resistance had on a speeding vehicle. Soon racecars were being shaped in what the designers felt was a more \u201cslippery\u201d shape to try and cheat the wind. At this juncture, there was little if any science behind these shapes, rather a combination of guesswork and aesthetics\u2014If it looks fast, it must be fast. This new era of tear drop shapes and rudimentary streamlining, yielded some of the most aesthetically gorgeous racecars of the pre-war era, machines like the Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B and the Talbot-Lago T26 are but two prime examples.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n