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I'm not familiar with the history of the VW bus so this maybe unfair, but it's interesting reading books on the evolution of the aeroplane and comparing them wi
by mhh__ 5y ago
I'm not familiar with the history of the VW bus so this maybe unfair, but it's interesting reading books on the evolution of the aeroplane and comparing them with the evolution of the car.
It took much longer for the production car to start to be engineered holistically and it's dynamics considered in the same manner one would if developing an aircraft.
That being said even formula 1 teams get caught out by the interaction of aero and (say) steering angle sometimes, so perhaps the problem is harder.
- WalterBright 5y agoIn the late 60's F1 cars started showing the effects of aerodynamic testing and development. Wings were added, not for lift, but to create downforce. Airplanes do not fly at all unless designed holistically, which is why the Wright Flyer flew and the other attempts did not.
- mhh__ 5y agoYou might like to gawk at a modern F1 bargeboard, which have become astonishingly complicated recently. https://external-preview.redd.it/bQ1FPpXTfqPTgZr82m7mFNIRYEx9T-F1uX2VgczK0A0.jpg?auto=webp&s=feec6a26471375d1fbcd582ab509307d39ff7a60 https://external-preview.redd.it/bQ1FPpXTfqPTgZr82m7mFNIRYEx... The point about steering angles was, if I recall correctly, McLaren's 2018 car's steering disrupting the airflow to the sidepod and bargeboard i.e. they got the placement slightly wrong so when the car was cornering the airflow would inst One thing that's kind of amusing, is that if you ask older members of FSAE (student racing car competition) teams, nearly everyone has a story about either themselves or a competing team designing an aero part only to discover that the part was basically just for the designer's curiosity/ego than any real aerodynamic performance on the car.
- WalterBright 5y agoIt's amusing how human intuition about fluid flow is so often wrong. Hence the bulbous nose if ships.