Shark skin paint.

[jake15919]

Simple question. Why are F1 cars, and high end performance cars, not painted in paint with a shark skin finish?

Shark skin is very rough and as a result causes a localised turbulence on the surface of the shark. As a result the shark benefits from a large reduction in friction as it swims through water.

Would this principal translate to a car travelling through air?

[vincenz]

Because F1 cars are not driven under water.

[Cupramax]

[Vieste]

[jmorgan]

I can just hear the pub talk now.

"yer, shark skin paint job that, cost me a mint"
"looks like a fudged paint job to me, you were ripped off"
"no its not, its an expensive shark skin paint job...."

[redtwin]

I can't recall even seeing boat hulls with anything other than a smooth gelcoat surface (apart for steel ships of course) and you would think that designers and manufacturers would want them as efficient as possible.

Maybe the sharks aren't as clever as you think they are.

[jake15919]

vincenz said:

Because F1 cars are not driven under water.

Realise you are taking the p*ss but I am guessing this has passed you by

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtxrp52PeDE

[catso]

Maybe they could have laser beams attached to their heads...

[K87]

It's an interesting concept.... There was a mythbusters episode where they created dimples all over a car body to create turbulance, in the same way that a golf ball works.

Reduced the fuel consumption by quite a noticeable amount

http://www.autoblog.com/2009/10/22/mythbusters-gol...

[Blib]

redtwin said:

Maybe the sharks aren't as clever as you think they are.

Yeah. But, who's brave enough to tell them?

[jake15919]

redtwin said:

I can't recall even seeing boat hulls with anything other than a smooth gelcoat surface (apart for steel ships of course) and you would think that designers and manufacturers would want them as efficient as possible.

Maybe the sharks aren't as clever as you think they are.

Sharks are pretty dumb. Evolution on the other hand......

[anonymous-user]

catso said:

Maybe they could have laser beams attached to their heads...

You mean a "frickin' lay-zerrrr"?

[HowMuchLonger]

A similar effect to the dimples on bicycle disk wheels?

[NDA]

Or lead.

Bullets go pretty fast.

[thinfourth2]

basically its too easy to damage

[Tunku]

Wouldn't all the stickers fall off?

[Gizmo!]

Tunku said:

Wouldn't all the stickers fall off?

Good point.

I'm actually surprised they don't use matt finish vinyls though.

[mikeyr]

Pretty sure this was answered in EVO mag by a engineer or the like. Air and water have such different characteristics is the short answer, the long answer was much more complicated!

Maybe like K87 said - to make a car go further what they should really do is dimple it like a golf ball...

[zakelwe]

Shark's skin, whale's foreskins, what next?

[epom]

Ferrari biologists are currently working on breeding a red shark, which will be released for sale worldwide !!