Quote:
Originally Posted by Mike
Because I am buying the car to track it, and Cd matters. Case in point: My CR hits the same top speed Mark(colatkitty) hits at WSIR entering T9. He's exiting T5 at LEAST 3-4 mph faster than I am (my stock suspension vs his dialed in coilovers). I'm certainly not making more power than he is, so why am I accelerating faster? Because of Aero. I run a much smaller wing. He's still far faster than I am.
The official Cd of the s2k isn't published, but the math works out to be about 0.38-0.39 with the top up
Cd matters.
Non-existant aerodynamics? Have you seen the latest round of exotics? There's an insane amount of simulation that goes into these things. Top rally and race cars have horrible Cd and frontal area because they're made for extreme downforce, not to cut through the air with as little resistance as possible.
|
You missed my entire point. I'm saying CD doesn't matter in this discussion and in cases where you are comparing apples to oranges. You compare two cars: your CR and colatkitty's S2K. Both cars with same profiles minus the difference in wing area. Assuming all else equal, both cars went around the track the exact same way, and both driver skill levels are identical -now you are comparing apples to apples.
Will the S2K beat the FT86 on the track? Will the 40HP difference be too much of a disadvantage? Will the lower CG and weight distribution be an advantage? Beats me...I don't know but I'm excited to find out coming Spring.
My second point was that CD is unfortunately an afterthought in the automotive industry as aesthetics are more important than engineering. Experimentals and exotics? We're already talking about apples and oranges and you show up with a coconut?
I have a degree in aerospace engineering with emphasis on aerodynamics and computational fluid dynamics so I care about CD more than anyone here probably. As brought up before, FT86 is a lower budget car with different design goals from the S2000. It has competitive handling, speed, balance, and weight characteristics. I would say bringing drag into the discussion is pointless if one doesn't do the calculation of acceleration taking into account ALL the vehicle dynamics unless 6 months later someone does go race the two side by side for an actual bench test.
Look at these numbers! They are all over the place.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automob...ag_coefficient
Some people might see numbers, but I see well engineered cars like the Nissan GTR with a 0.26 CD. Sure it's relatively low, but not lower than a Honda Insight.
The car's form factor and profile must be built around the interior mechanics because what is most important for an automobile is vehicle dynamics on the road rather than external forces and moments like an aircraft. The GTR doesn't need a CD of 0.15. Aerodynamics was sacrificed to build a better handling car, a car that can handle that large engine, and a better looking car.