How do aerodynamics affect a car

Therefore, an aerodynamic car can move through the air surrounding it, easier. To visualize it, simply think what would happen if you tried to move a brick wall with your car. Chances are you would be unsuccessful and even if you succeed then the car's engine would be severely worn and the wall would have moved inches from its initial position.

You can easily understand which of the two examples below will be able to ''cut'' through the air easier. The same principle that keeps aircrafts aloft is the same that pushes cars harder into the asphalt eliminating any lift and maximizing grip. Note that air is a fluid. To understand the principle we need to see how the wings of an aircraft keep it in the sky. A wing of an aeroplane is curved on top and therefore the air on the top of the wing has to travel faster and farther than the air underneath it.

Cars need to -as mentioned above- to improve grip. The first large-scale production car to use aircraft principles was the Jaguar E-Type with its slick and rounded body that not only made it aerodynamic and thus very fast but made it one of the most beautiful cars ever.

Even Enzo Ferrari himself said that the E-Type was the most beautiful car in the world. Today, the car I think has the most in common with the Jag is the F8 Tributo. Since then, due to the success of the E-Type car designers began to pay more attention to aerodynamics. In , cars use all kinds of bits and pieces to improve aero efficiency.

Personally, I find this field to be very interesting and one that will evolve even more in the years to come because of the electric trend that points to a fully-electric automotive-industry. No matter how slowly a car is going, it takes some energy to move the car through the air. This energy is used to overcome a force called Drag.

Between these three forces, we can describe most of the interactions of the airflow with a vehicle body. Frontal pressure is caused by the air attempting to flow around the front of the vehicle as shown in diagram D1 below. Diagram D1. Frontal Pressure is a form of drag where the vehicle must push air molecules out of the way as it travels through the air.

As millions of air molecules approach the front of the car, they begin to compress, and in doing so raise the air pressure in front of the car. At the same time, the air molecules travelling along the sides of the car are at atmospheric pressure, a lower pressure compared to the molecules at the front of the car. Just like an air tank, if the valve to the lower pressure atmosphere outside the tank is opened, the air molecules will naturally flow to the lower pressure area, eventually equalizing the pressure inside and outside the tank.

The same rules apply to any vehicle. The compressed molecules of air naturally seek a way out of the high pressure zone in front of the vehicle, and they find it around the sides, top and bottom of the vehicle as demonstrated in diagram D1.

As it drives down a road, the blocky sedan shape of the car creates a hole in the air. The air rushes around the body as described above.

These empty areas are the result of the air molecules not being able to fill the hole as quickly as the car can make it. The air molecules attempt to fill in to this area, but the car is always one step ahead, and as a result, a continuous vacuum sucks in the opposite direction of the car. Diagram D2. Rear Vacuum Also known as flow detachment is another form of drag where the air the vehicle is passing through cannot fill the space of the hole left behind by the vehicle, leading to what amounts to a vacuum.

In fact, the drag increase with the square of the vehicle speed, so more and more horsepower is needed to push a vehicle through the air as its speed rises. At high speeds, these competing drag and lift forces can make objects act in erratic ways — not exactly ideal for highway driving.

An immense amount of thought and testing goes into developing aerodynamic cars. But after spending months at their computers and drafting tables, designers put their prototypes through a pretty similar testing process to the one you used in middle school — trial and error. Basically, they stick cars in a giant wind tunnel, blast them with coloured air, and watch what happens.

Air acts differently depending on the weather conditions, so the ACE Wind Tunnel one of the largest in the world also offers durability tests that generate climate conditions like freezing rain. Yep, Elfstrom gets to create the weather as part of his job description.

To maximize aerodynamic efficiency, opt for a car with a streamlined shape, low frontal area, and minimal openings in the body works. Taking things further, the addition of features such as spoilers and side skirts on sports cars are intended to manipulate the airflow to improve downforce.

These tactics also make their way into designs of more conventional cars, albeit in less overt ways.