Reply to "rear wing aerodynamics"

I've heard it said a few times that the car goes faster without the delta wing ... the drag it creates is not off-set by the amount of downforce it creates. Downforce would make the car faster in corners.

long winded explanation:

There are aerodynamic devices designed to prevent lift, and there are aerodynamic devices designed to create down force. The rear wing, if it works, is not a lift-prevention device. Its not there to fix a problem. It would be there to create downforce, to push the car downward, giving a Pantera better grip in high speed corners.

On the negative side, all spoilers & wings create some amount of drag. Wings are mounted on race cars because the downforce is needed in the corners more than the top speed is needed in the straights. The goal is to design the spoiler in such an aerodynamically efficient way to create as much downforce as possible while creating as little drag as possible.

You don't see many spoilers at the Bonneville salt flats, because the salt flats are all about going as fast as possible in a straight line, no cornering.

I see two problems with the delta wing: (1) its not shaped like the wings you'll find pictured in race car engineering books and (2) its not high enough to be in "clean air", its about at the level where the air tumbling off the roof is. In other words, its not a "serious" aerodynamic device. However, even the little flip-up spoilers you see on the back edge of race cars in NASCAR, Trans Am, etc creat some useful amount of down force, so there is a possibility that even though the delta wing isn't shaped right, and it isn't high enough, it may still generate some useful amount of downforce. Just not as much as it would if it were shaped better and mounted higher. The $64 question is ... does the delta wing create enough down force to justify the aerodynamic drag it creates?

I'm not aware of any serious Pantera race cars equipped with the delta wing. Greg Esakoff's, Dennis Quella's, Larry Stock's, Jerry Sackett's; none of them use the delta wing. How about the Group 4's racing in Europe, do any of them use the delta wing? Have you noticed the wing mounted on the back of the Adler's Pantera ... now that's a serious aerodynamic device.

-G