from what i know, there is a large pressure drop behind the wheel. this cause boundy layer seperation and alot of turbulence. this is gonna cause alot of drag since youre trying to overcome the pressure differential front to rear. putting a fairing in front will help but the real problem is behind the wheel. this illustrates the difference infront of and behind thw wheels:Originally Posted by Matra et Alpine
yeah, the top is a problem but friction with the air is gonna cause far less drag then trying to over come the above effect (this an is educated guess, but i thnk it's valid).
thats my point , because of this they could have supported it with the upright or top A-arm and had the load go directly into the wheel. but it would have probably required quite a bit more work. The fatigue on the carbon would be quite bad.Originally Posted by Matra et Alpine
well, any time you have a vertical surface in a flow its going to have turbulence behind it which tends to deposit dirt on the surface. not a major design point of the car , just thought it was interesting packaging.Originally Posted by Matra et Alpine
good points. i guess this was just more my personal tase. I like the atom because i like to see the technical parts of a car and id rather have a car with incredible acceleration and cornering (and those looks) than one with better top speed potential.Originally Posted by Matra et Alpine
off topic but i hope to have time soon to go down to Brammo motorsports. theyre the US makers of the Atom and relativley close to me. theyre also an impressive engineering and composite shop:
http://www.brammo.com/
I should have known you wouldnt let me get away with those comments .