Freaking Fast

[T-Square]

1000 kg, 1000 hp, 2000 kg down force. Absolutely freaking fast. And you thought electric cars were quiet.

 

[Philpug]

Holy Hot Rod Batman!

 

[Tom K.]

Joker, Riddler and Penguin better watch their six!

 

[doc]

You think thats fast? Check out the Ford pro supervan at about 5:30 on this video.
In fact check out all the EVs. My dream car - GT3 Cup - got killed.

 

[scott43]

Fan car FTW... it's hard to argue against EV in terms of power..

 

[JCF]

You think thats fast? Check out the Ford pro supervan at about 5:30 on this video.
In fact check out all the EVs. My dream car - GT3 Cup - got killed.

Wouldn't say "killed" - 12 seconds behind that Jag is respectable.
Isn't fair to compare IC against EV.
That Super van looks silly - and crazy fast too.

GT3 still my dream street car.

That Speirling looks like bobsled down a chute on that run !!!

 

[dbostedo]

1000 kg, 1000 hp, 2000 kg down force. Absolutely freaking fast. And you thought electric cars were quiet.

The styling/proportions of the McMurty kind of remind me of those photoshopped "mini" cars:

 

[crgildart]

It'll pass anything but a charging station..

 

[Tom K.]

Fan car FTW... it's hard to argue against EV in terms of power..

Yeah, but was it the EV component or the 3,000 kg of fan-induced downforce that truly brought the dominance?!

 

[scott43]

Yeah, but was it the EV component or the 3,000 kg of fan-induced downforce that truly brought the dominance?!

Bit of a, bit of b??

 

[Snowfan]

Thanks to Elon for leading us to these

 

[scott43]

Typically no significant downforce is generated in an aero fashion until north of 100mph. Some..but not any big number. So throw a fan in there and you can generate significant downforce from 0mph. Which means, more traction for launch, more traction in low-speed corners, etc.. Couple that with motors that produce max torque at 0 rpm...great launch.

 

[tomahawkins]

I think tires provide a ratio of about 1 of downforce to lateral force. So why not just point the fans in the direction you want the car to accelerate? Or large vertical wings? Why must everything go through the tires?

 

[scott43]

I think tires provide a ratio of about 1 of downforce to lateral force. So why not just point the fans in the direction you want the car to accelerate? Or large vertical wings? Why must everything go through the tires?

What led to one of my favourite cars, the 917 Kurzheck...


A total of 3 Porsche 917s started in the race, and despite the insane raw power of the car - it went disastrously. John Woolfe piloting a privately entered 917 fatally crashed on the first lap, triggering a change of rules for the following years to stop the traditional 'Le Mans start' (where the drivers had to run across the track to their car when the race started.) - and one by one all other 917s failed. The last car failed during the 22nd hour and was actually in the lead by 6 laps - showing the potential of the car (One of the cars was actually recorded going in insane 238MPH on the Mulsanne straight).

Driver, Dickie Atwood did say that he was happy the car broke though as it was a 'monster' to drive. At high speeds the rear of the car was lifting off the ground, at times drivers said they could see the sky in the rear view mirror - not exactly what you want at 200+ MPH... Development was definitely needed if they were to succeed the next year.

 

[tomahawkins]

I guess the seal with the ground is the key: it provides high downforce with low fan power. But as soon as the seal is lost (e.g. kerb hit), so is the downforce.

 

[dbostedo]

So why not just point the fans in the direction you want the car to accelerate?

A fan that moves in concert with the car is incredibly more complex, and would likely affect many other parts of the car, than one that's fixed and just provides downforce perpendicular to the ground.

 

[scott43]

I guess the seal with the ground is the key: it provides high downforce with low fan power. But as soon as the seal is lost (e.g. kerb hit), so is the downforce.

You bet! Which is why they're frowned upon by FIA etc. Same with "movable aero surfaces". Too unpredictable. If something goes wrong just too much downforce is lost and the car could conceivably become a ballistic missile.

 

[scott43]

 

[tomahawkins]

You bet! Which is why they're frowned upon by FIA etc. Same with "movable aero surfaces". Too unpredictable. If something goes wrong just too much downforce is lost and the car could conceivably become a ballistic missile.

At least with movable aero, you still have it when the car leaves the track -- vertically. Again, assuming the aero is to keep the car straight and induce lateral loads on corners, not to generate downforce.

 

[scott43]

At least with movable aero, you still have it when the car leaves the track -- vertically. Again, assuming the aero is to keep the car straight and induce lateral loads on corners, not to generate downforce.

Yeah the land speed record car, Mach 1 or whatever it was? That was basically an aeroplane in touch with the ground. Most of the directional stability I believe was aero in nature. So at some point it does become more flying than driving.