4 ms·

> "To ensure strong traction right from the start, the AMZ team has developed a kind of vacuum cleaner that holds the vehicle down to the ground by suction." T

by csours 3y ago

> "To ensure strong traction right from the start, the AMZ team has developed a kind of vacuum cleaner that holds the vehicle down to the ground by suction." Traction is now the limiting factor, so better acceleration results will be driven (hah) by better traction.

TremendousJudge 3y ago
A similar thing was done in F1 in 1978: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brabham_BT46 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brabham_BT46 It was swiftly banned of course, since it worked too well.
- JKCalhoun 3y ago
  Or not well enough? These cars would appear to be utterly dependent on maintaining a very specific distance from the track for the ability to stay grounded. You imagine going into a curve at high speed and the slightest body roll or debris on the track that might kick the car up an inch or so would break the suction and send the car flipping like a pancake.
  - crote 3y ago
    Something like that happened in the 1999 Le Mans to Mercedes[0]. It happened three times that race weekend before they decided to retire their last remaining car. [0]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e21ZjwZGjiQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e21ZjwZGjiQ
  - TremendousJudge 3y ago
    That is an issue with all ground-effect cars, not specific to fan cars, which is why they were banned, but that happened much later. The fan car was banned because it gave Brabham an unfair advantage and the other teams didn't like it.
ActorNightly 3y ago
Traction has always been the limiting factor in automotive performance. There is a reason why a Civic Type R set a faster time than exotic cars of early 2010s, and thats because modern street tire compounds are as grippy as slick racing tires from those years. And now, race tires have a static friction coefficient greater than 1, because when warmed up they actually glue themselves to the road.
- csours 3y ago
  At this level, yes. For the family sedan, ehhh.

by csours 3y ago

TremendousJudge 3y ago

A similar thing was done in F1 in 1978: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brabham_BT46 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brabham_BT46 It was swiftly banned of course, since it worked too well.

JKCalhoun 3y ago
Or not well enough? These cars would appear to be utterly dependent on maintaining a very specific distance from the track for the ability to stay grounded. You imagine going into a curve at high speed and the slightest body roll or debris on the track that might kick the car up an inch or so would break the suction and send the car flipping like a pancake.
- crote 3y ago
  Something like that happened in the 1999 Le Mans to Mercedes[0]. It happened three times that race weekend before they decided to retire their last remaining car. [0]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e21ZjwZGjiQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e21ZjwZGjiQ
- TremendousJudge 3y ago
  That is an issue with all ground-effect cars, not specific to fan cars, which is why they were banned, but that happened much later. The fan car was banned because it gave Brabham an unfair advantage and the other teams didn't like it.

ActorNightly 3y ago

Traction has always been the limiting factor in automotive performance. There is a reason why a Civic Type R set a faster time than exotic cars of early 2010s, and thats because modern street tire compounds are as grippy as slick racing tires from those years. And now, race tires have a static friction coefficient greater than 1, because when warmed up they actually glue themselves to the road.

csours 3y ago
At this level, yes. For the family sedan, ehhh.