Astonishingly strange features on a car

[Don1]

Indicators on a BMW?

[jagdpanther]

Don1 said:

Indicators on a BMW?

OI


Mirrors on a Volvo?







(I own both, so laugh away )

[GravelBen]

youngsyr said:

Hmmm, I think I need a crash course in aerodynamics (who'd have thought it with a car shaped like a brick!). Do you have any links to good sites that discuss it?

http://www.racecar-engineering.com

Might be worth a look around.

[jayfish]

Thudd said:

Number 5 said:

For some strange reason I quite miss electric aerials.

Mine goes up and down as the stereo is turned on/off, meaning that I couldn't listen to a CD in a carwash if I wanted to.
If I hated my paint and thought that taking a convertible into a carwash was a good idea.
Which it isn't.

The aerial needs to be up with the cd player for traffic announcements (TP)

[sniff diesel]

youngsyr said:

Doesn't the entire F1 car generate just enough downforce for it to travel upside down in a tunnel at something like 180 mph?

If a formula one car weighs 700 kg and travels and generates that much downforce at 180 mph...

F1 car weighs 600kgs including driver, most of the top teams use 60-70kgs of ballast to achieve this minimum weight. At 200 mph they generate about 3 tonnes of downforce so they should be able to support their own weight at about 110mph.

[b4rk3r]

tuscan_al said:

garycat said:

mrmr96 said:

Another Evo one - the 7, 8 and 9 (and probably earlier ones too) have a Flare Holder built into the near side kick panel of the front passenger footwell. Yup, Flare Holder.

My import CRX had ne of those, complete with flare. I thought it was a fire extinguisher!!!

perfect anti car jacking device i would think!

My mr2 has got a flare holder complete with flare apparently they use them in japan istead of warning triangles

[Waugh-terfall]

LuS1fer said:

However, one of the most pointless features is remote unlocking. We all do it, we unlock the car about 100yards away thus allowing any scrote hiding behind the car to open the door and steal something when you've got no chance of catching him. No, it hasn't happened but it often crosses my mind.

Audi's only unlock the filler cap and drivers door on the first press, passenger doors and boot with the second press.

My Mazda has a button next to the door lock pin thing that you press just before you exit the vehicle after a drive to dispell any static, never used it... Also, if you accidentally press a lock pin down thus locking the door and close it, the lock pops back up again preventing you from ever locking yourself out of your car

[driverrob]

mat205125 said:

Callan.T89 said:

The Misubishi Starion Turbo has a button on the dash to raise and lower the pop-up headlights without turning the headlights on? Pointless even as a service tool because they has a manual crank to raise them in case of service/repair needs.

Shirley handy for when you are washing the car

Not just handy. Essential for changing a bulb if access from the rear is anything like it is in my GTO.


Going waaayy back in time: the first car I remember my Dad having was (IIRC) a Vauxhall 12. It had 4 in-board jacks with handles under the carpet. None of that nasty getting out in the cold and grovelling around underneath.

[Mister V]

Don1 said:

Indicators on a BMW?

You mean the good awful ones they got from the vectra?

[BB-Q]

Dr JonboyG said:

youngsyr said:

sniff diesel said:

youngsyr said:

GravelBen said:

youngsyr said:

GravelBen said:

Didn't BMW claim that the small 'gurney lip' on the bootlid of the E39 M5 was good for a 50kg reduction in rear end lift at speed?

Who knows, but if that little lip generates 50 kgs at speed, then I'd imagine the aircraft wings attached to race cars would generate far too much downforce for it to be useful.

Doesn't the entire F1 car generate just enough downforce for it to travel upside down in a tunnel at something like 180 mph?

If a formula one car weighs 700 kg and travels and generates that much downforce at 180 mph, I'd imagine that the little lip spoiler won't generate 1/14 of that at 150 mph.

It also begs the question as to how is the lip spoiler attached?

Is it a moulded part of the boot, bolted on or stuck on?

Thats not 50kg of positive downforce, its 50kg less lift than it would otherwise have (I expect it still has significant lift). Thats a quite different effect, you can't make the sort of generalised comparison you're using with any real credibility.

I see where you're coming from, but 50 kgs less lift seems a lot from that tiny lip.

Depends what speed you measure it at: downforce squares as speed doubles.

Maybe I just don't understand the principles involved and I'm just simplifying things then.

I'd say that's about the only thing you've gotten right in this thread. Oh, and F1 cars generate a lot more than 700 kg of downforce.

just to add some info: A top fuel dragster weighs around 3000lbs. It's front wings generate around 500lbs of downforce and the rear wing around 5000lbs. It's impossible to get the 10,000bhp to the ground without them - many spectacular crashes have occurred moments after the wing's collapsed.