RE: Challenger in NASCAR
[quote]ORIGINAL: epegasus
The slant nose design had less to do with aerodynamics and everything to do with front end down force. What has the greatest influence on how slick a car moves through the air is over-all frontal area. Take a picture of the front of a car from a dead-on front angle from about the height of the hood's leading edge. the smaller the car from that perspective the easier it will displace air and the faster it can go. The slant noses actually hurt the top end performance but had to be there to keep the noses from floating off the track. The sunken front can generate a high pressure zone but that is easily dealt with by well placed pressure relief cut-outs that allow the high pressure air to be funneled to low pressure zones.
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Not sure I totally agree with you on the slant noses having little to do with aerodynamics, and that they actually hurt the top end performance. Chrysler did a lot of wind tunnel testing on the “Wingcars” to come up with the best aero package possible. However, due to the fact that they had to actually sell “street versions”, some compromises had to be made. If you refer to their wind tunnel report, you will find that the nose could have been shorter, but had to be made longer to mount the headlight doors, and even the wing could have been shorter, but was produced at a higher height to avoid interference with the deck lid. However, having said that two things were absolutely necessary to make the slant nose work properly:
1) Downward angle or stance of the front of the car (Less frontal area going through the air, and in turn placing the front spoiler closer to the track surface keeping air from under the car). *This was the reason for the Daytona and Superbird having rearward facing scoops on the front fenders. They were for added tire clearance, not to remove air pressure from the wheel well area.
2) The correct size and position of the front spoiler was an absolute necessity, without which the nose would create lift and making the car float off the track.