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Are you racing the car pictured in a class where 10ths of a second are going to be the difference between winning and losing something of important? If not, my recommendation is to leave that very attractive, pretty unmolested S2000 alone.
IMHO, I'd start with a swan neck rear wing. Less drag and works more independent of yaw angle (in a turn there is always a yaw angle). Then the splitter, which will be hard to get right without a good CFD or instrumented testing (there is a reason F1 cars run those big pressure measurement arrays in practice). Then venting the hood and the front fenders. There is a lot of air flowing through the radiator and it needs to leave without creating pressure under the hood. Most (all?) current LMP cars vent their fenders on top (Evasive has a fender that vents on top).
Is there someone reading this who has a measurable improvement in lap times or added more angle of attack to a rear wing to balance the car after adding canards?
i really appreciate your input.. actually i use my car for time attack events and its very competitive lap time does matter.. im also planning for the vented hood. in my case i thought i loved the balance of the car but since im upgrading the rear wing i thought adding those canards would help keep it balanced.
Given that he has no data to support it, the author hypothesizes that correctly placed shallow canards help create a low pressure area in front of the front tire. Interesting hypothesis, it would be interesting to see a CFD to support it.
Keep in mind the Time Attack cars with massive front splitters and huge canards also have mega horsepower so drag isn't an issue. This S2000 has massive canards, massive splitter, flat bottom, diffuser, and dual plane rear wing. I believe it also has around 800hp. I'm sure it would cost close to or over $100k to reproduce. And then, where would you race it?
Lol u can't really compare top fuel S2k with any other S2k. The development of the top fuel is top notch stuff and arguably it's one the fastest track S2k.
Anyways if u r needing more help with understeer(assuming that's y u r installing canards) the canards will never balance out a wing. U will need a splitter to help u out.
Lol u can't really compare top fuel S2k with any other S2k. The development of the top fuel is top notch stuff and arguably it's one the fastest track S2k.
Anyways if u r needing more help with understeer(assuming that's y u r installing canards) the canards will never balance out a wing. U will need a splitter to help u out.
Top cars are often a good reference point because a) they often have the funds spent on development (fabricating alternative components), testing (e.g. wind tunnels), and analysis (e.g. CFDs); and b) the success of their efforts can be seen against others doing the same thing.
Noteworthy is that Top Fuel started with a single plane wing, diffuser, something going on underneath, and a splitter without endplates. Generally, good aero components change the lift/drag ratio. This is a negative fractional number for most street cars, and even street cars with net downforce (e.g. Corvette Z06/Z07, Porsche GT3) the L/D ratio is still fractional.
On LMP and Formula cars, the overall L/D ratios can be 3,4, or 5. Part is because wings can have an L/D of 7 or more and their bodies are very aerodynamic. I have no idea what it is for production modified cars. Swan neck wings apparently have a big advantage, especially in turns because they are much less sensitive to yaw angle.
It appears for the size, design, and angle of attack most winged S2000s here have pretty minimal downforce. Not zero, and not lift, but not 1000lbf-1500lbf either. Based on the rear wing, the Top Fuel S2000 could be in that range.
I don't know why the time attack cars all aren't using swan neck wings. Maybe it is in the rules. However, all the DTM cars which directly use their manufacturers for testing and analysis all have swan neck wings:
There is a lot of chassis setup to make these cars work. How far off the ground is the front splitter and rear diffuser? How much does it change over bumps, dive, and squat? My guess is these cars are running very stiff springs and shocks with very low ground clearances, probably no more than 2". 2: ground clearance isn't streetable and can be difficult getting into and out of a trailer.
When aero downforce and/or sticky tires are added the question of the strength of the suspension and its mounting points comes into question. The Japanese tuners offer reinforced front and rear subframes, front upper arm mount reinforcements, and front unibody reinforcements. Evasive sells a suspension arm and spindle kit from Wisefab (in Estonia???) that lowers the S2000 while maintaining suspension geometry (and of course adding spherical bearing suspension bushings). They claim it was worth 2 seconds/lap.
If the engine is boosted to 500hp-800hp power levels the whole drivetrain—clutch, transmission, driveshaft, differential, axles, hubs—comes into question. There are threads on that with some top S2000s pumping over 1000hp.
04-14-2017, 12:15 AM
