Ground effect anyone?

[torsion_bar]

I find myself thinking: what if the FIA allowed F1 cars to have shaped undersides again?

I'm not thinking of anything as outrageous as the return of side skirts and all that, but how about something similar to what CART has?

The cars still get their downforce but the emphasis is taken away from the front and rear wings. Maybe then the engineers can even do away with those hideous high noses and the cars might leave less turbulent air behind them, making passing a feasible tactic agian.

[torsion_bar]

no replies at all?

do all you guys think my idea is really dumb?

did i broach a taboo subject?

ignoring the new guy?

wassup?!

[Tris]

The cars would be almost un-driveable. You would need to change the tyre regulations too, as well as limit the amount of upper body aerodynamic devices.. F1 cars still have a lot of ground effect aerodynamics, diffuser etc etc .

A better rule change would be to ban all ground effect elements and raise the car’s ride height and limit the number of foil’s allowed in the front and rear wings. This would slash the amount of available downforce and shift the emphasis back on to suspension set-up.

When the FIA had the moratorium with the constructors about how too improved overtaking they did a ton of wind tunnel work to see if ground effect would improve overtaking.

I think a more realistic change would be a return to flat bottom rather than stepped bottom rules and limit the length of the ventri, diffuser and the number of foils allowed in the wings.

[Liz]

You might get more replies with a topic like this in the Tech Forum.

Personally I want the 1980s cars back in all their glory - big fat cars with big fat tires and big, big, big fat turbo engines.

Oh, wait - that's Champ Cars!