Bryan Watts

The gators are a normal part of going through there fast in a sedan/sports car (i.e. most anything but a Formula/Prototype/Sports Racer).

kurt M

Yes, on one thing, over into the dirt another. VIR is better than most at maintianing the shoulders on the grass side of the gators but sometimes the dirt is soft and they get deep. Lot of snow and rain this spring and the grounds are soaked. Did not say it was the sole cause just that he did drive over and the back stepped out at that time. VIR is my all time favorite track.

SundayDriver

This is somewhat a guess on my part, as I have not driven a sedan with a working wing. But if they are only getting 100 lbs of downforce out of the wing, they can add some oversteer and balance that with the wing. Loss of the wing would make the car oversteer in a fast place, and I imagine it could be pretty drastic as they are suddenly entering 3-4 mph too fast with oversteer. Of course, if the car is not set up right, the wing could be covering the problem. I don't think any of us will really know as we didn't drive the car.

Ground effects require very low ground clearance to have any significant effect. I mean around 1" or lower at the lowest point (usually the front splitter). It is not very likely that the diffuser was doing anything other than smoothing the undercar airflow.

Beyond that, you are correct - you must maintain ride height for ground effects. That is why real aero cars run very, very stiff springs - the equivalent of 3-4,000 lb/in on a P-car.

LDadrenaline

coming from a past subaru driver... that car has 580whp, I can believe the speed. You have to set these cars up verrrry loose to get them to turn well at lower speed. Makes them a little twitchy at high speed, but I assume that is the reason for the aero. I never drove with any aerodynamics other than a front spoiler and small chin spoiler for the rear, so I have no idea how much downforce their car could be making. I don't remember the car's history in full, but I do remember it having some pretty competitive finishes in timetrails/timeattack. What happened did not surprise me with how fast that car was, but I have a problem seeing how the driver wouldn't notice the lack of downforce right away.

ilko

I watched the video in 720p on YouTube and it looks like he dropped a wheel right before spinning. So I don't know how much of it is aero and how much is driver error.

And what kind of steering wheel breaks like that? I have a feeling there are several low quality "mods" fitted to that car that just make me scratch my head...

Bryan Watts

I don't think the quality of the steering wheel had anything to do with it breaking. You slam your knee into your wheel at that speed and I suspect yours will break as well.

The car is already rotating before he gets to the curb and it doesn't look to me like he even drops a wheel onto the curb, much less over it until after the car is on it's way around.

Darren

Yeah I don't think he dropped a wheel, and anyway you can actually drive on dirt you know. I've passed people in races 4 wheels in the dirt at 100+ mph.

kurt M

While turning ?

Good thing the wheel broke. Better the wheel than the arms or legs or whatever that hit it.

mark kibort

Yeah, i think i need 2 wheels on pavement to complete the turn, at least.

mark kibort

usually, you hit turns like that and you are expecting a certain amount of "bite", but I think at that speed, you always feel the car through the turn, even with the wing. Looked like his turn in was a little abrupt. hard to say, but you would think you would be able to feel the lack of 300+lbs of downforce (or there abouts) and just 4 wheel drift it and miss the exit line and maybe go off track straight on the other side. Who knows. we were not there. in most street cars, even with splitters, at that speed, the cars dont have a lot of frontal downforce, so it doesnt usually create such a tremedous imbalance, as it would in a full ground effect, aero sports racer. again, my opinion.
The fact that the wing caved in or broke at 130mph, says a lot about the safety of the car. heck, you all saw my 130mph test of my home depot splitter before I added the reinforcement cables. . For a wing to break, or the uprights to break, thats pretty scary

chris walrod

Static aero load simulation is quite simple -- we did it years ago on this car



But back to the original topic, sure glad to see that guy climb out of that thing on his own!!!

LoanWolf

Wreck Me Otter

Gee Chris...didn't know the Atlantic's had reward weights...you guys must have been REALLY fast!...

chris walrod

They dont, but Champ Car did a long time ago

Paul 996

Chris,

Thanks for providing the answer to my longstanding household debate about whether an open wheel car with wings could be a practical addition to the stable. Your pic easily shows the practicality of making Home Depot runs to bring home all the mulch or potting soil my wife could ever need