BigMac1212
New Member
From a physics standpoint, why is it that Nascar cars run slower than openwheel (i.e. Indycar) at the same racetrack, say Indianapolis Motor Speedway? (Let's not bash any series in this thread.)
Motorsports question
- Thread starter BigMac1212
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JFC
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I would think that it's largely due to the differences in car design. In simple terms, Indy/F1 cars are a lot more sleek/streamlined than NASCARs. Open-wheel cars also have less mass to move around than NASCARs do.
Open wheel cars (especially F1 cars) are continiously evolving to be more and more aerodynamic. They're built with as much fibreglass and as little metallic material as possible for the best possible power-to-weight ratio. The wings that are mounted on various points of the chassis induce added "downforce", which keeps the car closer to the ground, which again helps in terms of keeping/maintaining overall speed. The underside of an open-wheel car is also enclosed within a sheet of fibreglass, instead of having all the drivetrain components exposed, which causes disruptions/turbulance in the air that flows underneath the car.
NASCARs, on the other hand, all come from the same basic/stock design (hence they're known as "stock cars"). The shell of a NASCAR is also all fibreglass, however underneath that shell, there is a lot more steel in the construction of the frame/body. The biggest thing that comes to my mind is the difference in the roll cages. A NASCAR roll cage ends up comprising pretty much the entire frame of the car, so you can imagine how much added weight that has. An open-wheel car has an open top, so that, combined with the design of the cockpit means that their roll-cage is a lot smaller, thus requiring less steel to make.
Thing is though, in the end, both NASCARs and F1 cars are capable of running at relatively the same speeds. The difference is only in how quickly they can attain that max speed. F1 cars are much more nimble compared to NASCARs. They can brake quickly, turn quickly, and accelerate quickly. NASCARs, on the other hand, were design to go more or less in a straight line (I say "more or less" because as we know, the majority of NASCAR cources are circular, and the turns on these circular courses are never more than 45 degrees). It takes them longer to brake and accelerate, but once they get going, they can still move.
The way I think of it, open-wheel cars are like sports cars, whereas NASCARs are like semi-trucks. The sports car will give you instant power and speed off the line. The semi won't. However given enough time to continuously accelerate, the semi can hold it's own and go just as fast.
EDIT: In terms of the mass issue, for some reason this got me thinking of that episode of Monster Garage where they turned a Peterbilt semi into a trike. Watch this vid as Jesse races the Peterbilt trike against an actual Peterbilt semi. They both have the same engine, but the trike has significantly less mass to move. The results are pretty evident.
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-7QNvIxQTs[/ame]
Open wheel cars (especially F1 cars) are continiously evolving to be more and more aerodynamic. They're built with as much fibreglass and as little metallic material as possible for the best possible power-to-weight ratio. The wings that are mounted on various points of the chassis induce added "downforce", which keeps the car closer to the ground, which again helps in terms of keeping/maintaining overall speed. The underside of an open-wheel car is also enclosed within a sheet of fibreglass, instead of having all the drivetrain components exposed, which causes disruptions/turbulance in the air that flows underneath the car.
NASCARs, on the other hand, all come from the same basic/stock design (hence they're known as "stock cars"). The shell of a NASCAR is also all fibreglass, however underneath that shell, there is a lot more steel in the construction of the frame/body. The biggest thing that comes to my mind is the difference in the roll cages. A NASCAR roll cage ends up comprising pretty much the entire frame of the car, so you can imagine how much added weight that has. An open-wheel car has an open top, so that, combined with the design of the cockpit means that their roll-cage is a lot smaller, thus requiring less steel to make.
Thing is though, in the end, both NASCARs and F1 cars are capable of running at relatively the same speeds. The difference is only in how quickly they can attain that max speed. F1 cars are much more nimble compared to NASCARs. They can brake quickly, turn quickly, and accelerate quickly. NASCARs, on the other hand, were design to go more or less in a straight line (I say "more or less" because as we know, the majority of NASCAR cources are circular, and the turns on these circular courses are never more than 45 degrees). It takes them longer to brake and accelerate, but once they get going, they can still move.
The way I think of it, open-wheel cars are like sports cars, whereas NASCARs are like semi-trucks. The sports car will give you instant power and speed off the line. The semi won't. However given enough time to continuously accelerate, the semi can hold it's own and go just as fast.
EDIT: In terms of the mass issue, for some reason this got me thinking of that episode of Monster Garage where they turned a Peterbilt semi into a trike. Watch this vid as Jesse races the Peterbilt trike against an actual Peterbilt semi. They both have the same engine, but the trike has significantly less mass to move. The results are pretty evident.
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-7QNvIxQTs[/ame]
Last edited:
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