Excelent! I like the fact they've calculated what angle it could go up.
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Any aerodynamicists out there?
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Posted 2 years ago #
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Fantastic answer there.
Posted 2 years ago # -
I suspect they could tell that Ferrari could manage 83 degrees & the Renault about 53
Posted 2 years ago # -
heard back from McLaren, the odd thing is that STW (& I) appear to be wrong
Nope. McLaren are wrong. STW are *never* wrong.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Going vertical would also affect fuelling and oil levels on the car so it could stop rather quickly...I think it was Bugatti that changed the angle of their oil channels as they discovered they started loosing power when they turned right...the force caused by the speed of the turn meant the oil was not reaching where it was needed and was robbing the engine of power...so they changed the angle to slow the reduced flow and discovered the power wasn't so bad when cornering...
Or thereabouts, I forget all the actual detauils but that is pretty much it in a nutshell...
Itr would be cool to see though...a car driving up a wall...or indeed driving upside down on the roof of a tunnel.
Posted 2 years ago # -
STW were wrong due to incorrect power assumptions, we worked on the old figure of ~900hp, current engines are apparently only good for ~750hp.
Gutted, mis-information leading the way - that'll be a first in STW I'd be fascinated to see their calcs actually.
Good on McLaren for answering.
Posted 2 years ago # -
I have managed to get tickets to their event at Brooklands on 8th Nov as well
we are very pro McLaren in our house now
Posted 2 years ago # -
they're still cowards.
(and i don't buy their answer that they don't have the down-force to produce enough grip against the wall
the sine of 85 degrees is 0.996, which means they only need to find 0.4% more grip)
(disclaimer; all my calculations are done with a scrap of paper, my phone, and about 30seconds scribbling)
Posted 2 years ago # -
willard - Member
Simple solution... Bottles of air. or a very big scoop to cram a lot of that thin air into the engine. Of course, that could add a bit to weight and drag, so you might need a bigger engine.
A bigger engine would need more air....
A turbo/supercharger is what you want
But that'd still only work to a certain altitude.
Posted 2 years ago # -
It's threads like this that are what I love about STW. Well done chaps.
Posted 2 years ago # -
85 degrees is pretty damned close to 90, but remember relationships between downdforce, power and grip are not linear, they're likely to be squares off the top of my head. Obviously a lot more power is eaten up in generating downforce than seems intuitive.
A bigger engine would need more air....
A turbo/supercharger is what you want
A small engine with a turbo needs more air too. In fact a 1 litre engine boosted to 1 bar needs approximately the same air as a 2 litre engine (though it is a lot lighter).
Posted 2 years ago # -
Top thread - and Top Marks to McLaren for coming back to you - bet they had a fun few minutes over morning coffee doing the workings on that.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Yeh, I was pretty pleased that they came back & that we had come up with something they hadnt been asked before... & burning up their computer time to check it
Posted 2 years ago #
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