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"A Class" Modified Car


Introduction

I'd like to thank Dennis Palatov of www.dpcars.net for providing the Hayabusa engine model and the driver model. Check out his DP-1 project, he's a few steps ahead of me.

Update

In the past weeks I've taken to redesigning the frame some more. I like the wide roll hoop I'm using since it gives me room to package things, ie radiator, gas tank, and electronics. However I didnt like where the driver was. So I repositioned the driver, updated the driver model to represent my helmet, and tweaked the front box for a better suspension geometry. I've also designed a new rear box made of steel which will be skinned with carbon fiber. I will post pictures of that later.
I've also started on the exterior of the vehicle. The first concept looked more like a DSR than an "A mod", as you can see below.

Totally enclosed body, with side ducts on either side. This iteration has a flat bottom but I was working on an underbody diffuser.


Transparent view of internals.


Flow over nose into cockpit. This shows I need to do something to shield the drivers compartment.

Unfortunately, this design didn't pan out, even after 6 iterations. Why? See below.
According to Floworks the vehicle is making 200 pounds of lift with 173 pounds of drag at 100mph in 75 degree air. Autocross speeds are much lower than this, but with my limited aerodynamic experience, designing a full bodied car is probally not worth the time. It's kind of a relief since I dont have the tooling to actually produce a piece of carbon fiber that big. So I turned to my other options wings.


At 100 mph this dual element wing makes 230 pounds of downforce and 105 pounds of drag. Not bad for a first guess. I have now spent some time using Java Foil In order to develop a working low speed triple element wing. I will update the page with those results as soon as I have time to let Floworks do its thing.


What the car would look like with wings. The frame still needs some tweeking to package the front wing and make room for a crash structure. Still a lot of work ahead.