Aerodynamics Fundamentals: The Importance of Car Mass
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The Importance of Car Mass
02.04
| 00:00 | A common theme you may have noticed over the last few modules was the relationship between aero and car mass when it comes to grip. |
| 00:06 | The key point that you need to take away from all these equations we have run through is that the potency of aero effects is directly related to the mass of the car. |
| 00:16 | If we inspect our equation for cornering v equals the square root of mu multiplied by mass times gravity plus fz aero multiplied by r divided by m, we can see that if 50% of the car's mass is removed it has the same effect as adding 50% of the car's downforce, because the mass term is present on both the bottom and the top of the equation without affecting the downforce force. |
| 00:43 | And that's not even factoring in the positive effects on tyre loading and grip that result from reduced normal load as discussed in the previous modules. |
| 00:52 | You can see here how critical it is that a car that's chasing performance through downforce should be as light as physically possible, even more so than a non -downforce car, which will still see significant benefits from mass reduction. |
| 01:07 | One of the most frustrating things I see on clients' club level cars is looking for very fine aero optimizations when they're still leaving massive amounts of time on the table with things like unstripped interiors. |
| 01:19 | The lesson here is if you're going to develop an aero-heavy car, you should put as much effort as possible into weight reduction. |
| 01:26 | This brings us to the end of the aero and vehicle physics fundamentals section of the course, so let's quickly go over what we covered in this short final module before moving on. |
| 01:36 | The relationship between aerodynamics and car mass is crucial for grip, and reducing the car's mass can have the same effect as increasing downforce. |
| 01:45 | This is particularly important for cars focused on performance through downforce, where rate reduction is essential for maximizing aero benefits. |
| 01:54 | Therefore, prioritizing the weight reduction is key, especially before fine-tuning aerodynamics. |
