Hi all,

Fan of NASCAR racing or not, there is an informative technical article comparing the old with the new cars in the February 2008 issue of the excellent brit mag MotorSport (pages 59-63). Among other things, there are some wind tunnel photos comparing the old (front air dam/large rear deck spoiler) to the new (front splitter/wing) design. The idea wasn't to increase downforce (it's actually less, for several reasons) but rather to "clean up" the air flow behind a lead car in order to make it easier for the driver of a following car to maintain control - hence leading to better and safer passing opportunities. The downforce was also reduced by an increase in the width and height of the car in order to improve the safety features.

Warning- reading this magazine can become seriously addictive.

Regards, Cal

 

At first I thought the COT was a big ugly blob but now it has grown on me. The best part about the change is the level playing field. Nascar made a big advancement and this gives smaller teams a chance to be competitive without the big bucks of a Hendrick-like organization.


I am excited to see what Toyota pulls off this year with the addition of Joe Gibbs Racing.

 

Nascar, welcome to 1990 technology. Look at the COt, now look at say BTCC, look at WRC, look at SCCA ST, BFD sorry.

 

Wow, the above comments are another example of why not to post. For what it's worth, I do watch BTCC and World Challange etc etc. The point of my post was that you just might find the article in MotorSport somewhat interesting as it applies to motorsports in general. Incidentally, my open-minded friend, the article referred to has a sidebar containing an interview with JP Montoya who has some interesting observations to make based on a full years worth of driving in, heaven forbid, NASCAR.

Cal

 

Brilliant comment. The point of Nascar is not to make the most expensive car possible. They already regulate the speed on the cars, no need for carbon fiber and more horsepower.

 

I'm a Nascar fan

I'm also a fan of anything with a motor that goes fast

 

...I've become a NASCAR fan too.

Boogity Boogity boogity!!!

 

"let's go racing boys"

 

THANK YOU! I could not agree more.

 

Just by watching the 500 yesterday made me a believer in the COT. Watching Clint Bowyer get spun and sliding sideways past 90 degrees in rotation and bringing it back around further proves that the wing is better than the spoiler. Also, if Dale Jr had come up on Tony Stewart like he did towards the end of the race in the middle of turn #1 Tony would have crashed not just got loose and moved up the banking.

COT