A buddy of mine recently delivered a whole mess of old magazines to The Jalopy Journal World Headquarters. Part of that delivery included the November, 1951 issue of Motorsport Magazine. And in that magazine was an article titled, "Designing For Spee... <BR><BR>To read the rest of this blog entry from The Jalopy Journal, click here.
Why not start with forward rake to compensate for increasing angle of attack? Why add weight at the center of gravity when its needed only at the front? Why is weight a problem "driving " the car? Seems like it would only be a problem when accelerating, not a major issue on long course.
Watch "World's Fastest Indian", skip to the part where ol' Burt sticks a toothpick through the dude's cigar! Munro was a simply brilliant tinkerer. Real world smarts!
Exactly. the power it takes to go X velocity goes up by the CUBE of the velocity. Aero drag is a bitch, we set up our '23 T in GMR with neutral aero balance, ei no downforce, and for sure no lift at speed. We have sensors fron and rear to monitor travel. We usually have 1000lbs of lead over the rear axle and a spool in the rearend. Weight is usually not much concern. a couple weeks ago we ran an AA motor at Bonneville for the first time. first with all the lead, set te record, then took out 400lbs and tried to re-set our own record. It was only a couple mph difference in the mid mile. 1100hp or so . We went 287mph into a 13 mph headwind, sure wish we woulda had a tail wind......seems to be working for an open roadster with open wheels...
THanks! I'm writing a mini short story now to post on here of the last 2 weeks...hope to post tonight.
maybe it's time to school me - maybe slighthly O/T, and with my admittedly limited knowledge of So-Cal Speed Shop's activities as of late, but is it me or does it seem like the street-enthusiast activity level of So-Cal speed shop of 1955 is not the same as So-Cal speed shop of 2010? My point of reference is when I visited Las Vegas' SCSS in '08- it reminded me more of a Harley dealership (w/ a lotta T-shirts and stickers) than place for greasy fingernails and parking lot carb adjustments. Understand that I am NOT trying to be disrespectful...but the footage that Ryan and the crew produce from the glory days seems so much more involved than today...
The Vegas store is a licensed dealership for So-Cal parts and "stuff". If you go the the real SCSS in California, you' see a much different kind of business.
The article was very interesting, especially related to what the thinking on Bonneville car aerodynamics was in 1950, but based on what it know today on aerodynamic shapes moving at high speeds in close proximity to the ground it is not something that you would want to follow if you were building a car today. There has been very significant progress in the analysis this type of aerodynamics that is completely opposite of what is in this article. The part of this article regarding what can happen if the angle of attach is increased is true and something that you need to avoid with any car traveling at 200 mph+. A note regarding Hans and the guys that run the "Contrivance Special" AAGMR (AA Gas Modified Roadster) at Bonneville. This car is a complete contradiction to what is the "standard" approach to building a Modified Roadster. The contemporary modified roadster is based upon a 27 T body, and it built very low to the ground with a flat bottom. The Contrivance Special is built using a 23 T body, and has a round bottom and has probably at least 6 inches of ground clearance. Also the car has numerous details that are all aimed at reducing aero drag. The car is extremely interesting to just look at the details, lots of thinking went into this car. Now the best part, the Contrivance Special hold ALL of the unblown gas records from AA to E!!!! That is 6 records!!! Their motors are good, but certainly probably not the most powerful, it is their aero concept and their attention to aero details that sets this car at the top of the class. When I first saw the car several years ago I could not believe how fast it was (is!) but being the holder of 6 Bonneville records it is impressive. Rex
Rex, So someone is watching......you are dead on. We make good power, but certainly not the most, all parts other than fabbed , fairly run of the mill intake manifolds are off the shelf parts and we have no motor development program. We make on ave 2.2 hp per cube which isn't bad by any means...but look at our records compared to say...fuel or blown gas, even some blown fuel.....then you say....wait a minute...it's not the motors..... Hans
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