Could you wheelie with wind..?

[CB125T]

Odd question

Let's say you were driving along the motorway with front windows open, how fast would you have to go before the force of the wind rushing through the windows into the back of the car makes the front wheels lift off the ground?

And to answer your question, no, I haven't been drinking

[fjord]

[CB125T]

fjord said:

The concept seemed simple in my mind!

[J4CKO]

What makes you think open windows will create lift, I was thinking drag and turbulence an would be largely down to the shape of the body and how the air flows over it.

[gubbabump]

wouldn't the wind smash the rear windows or slow you down more and more with drag - (I know nothing of physics)

[poing]

CB125T said:

And to answer your question, no, I haven't been drinking

In which case you should start immediately.

In answer I would guess at 812.4mph if the roof was strong enough to take it. We'll just ignore the laws of physics for the evening

[ohtari]

You have a lot of faith in your rear window.


All hail the unbreakable rear window!

[littleandy0410]

CB125T said:

Odd question

Let's say you were driving along the motorwaya conveyor belt with front windows open, how fast would you have to go before the force of the wind rushing through the windows into the back of the car makes the front wheels lift off the ground?

And to answer your question, no, I haven't been drinking

Fixed that for you

[ohtari]

littleandy0410 said:

CB125T said:

Odd question

Let's say you were driving along the motorwaya conveyor belt with front windows open, how fast would you have to go before the force of the wind rushing through the windows into the back of the car makes the front wheels lift off the ground?

And to answer your question, no, I haven't been drinking

Fixed that for you

But the plane would take off, right?

What would jesus do?

[CB125T]

I forgot that the windows would probably smash.

[Bill]

Huh? Why would having the windows open make the car wheelie?

[Monkeylegend]

Bill said:

Huh? Why would having the windows open make the car wheelie?

Obvious really. It pushes all the air to the back of the car, making the back heavier than the front, thus creating front end lift.

[996TT02]

J4CKO said:

What makes you think open windows will create lift, I was thinking drag and turbulence an would be largely down to the shape of the body and how the air flows over it.

This!

At a high speed a car not designed for it would lift, probably from the rear first.

Just check out some footage of cars being chucked around in tornado force winds.

I also remember some CLK GTRs flipping (read about it not witnessed!) now those were supposed to be limpets!

[poing]

996TT02 said:

J4CKO said:

What makes you think open windows will create lift, I was thinking drag and turbulence an would be largely down to the shape of the body and how the air flows over it.

This!

At a high speed a car not designed for it would lift, probably from the rear first.

Just check out some footage of cars being chucked around in tornado force winds.

I also remember some CLK GTRs flipping (read about it not witnessed!) now those were supposed to be limpets!

Ahh but you guys are thinking it's a 4 door fixed roof car. Perhaps the OP was referring to driving a soft top, so technically if you could get the top to stay in place long enough and it got enough air in it then it could potentially get lift. Granted you would probably need something tail heavy to lift just the front wheels but that's the exact reason Porsche invented the drop top 911.

[Bill]

Monkeylegend said:

Obvious really. It pushes all the air to the back of the car, making the back heavier than the front, thus creating front end lift.

Of course. How daft of me to doubt it.

[carl_w]

I'm pretty sure that >1 Cerbera owner has broken the rear windscreen at speed. The doors are frameless, and the windows lift away from the seals at speed.

[davepoth]

It wouldn't happen. Assuming no turbulence (big assumption but it's safe enough for this) and that the air was being ducted into the car, what would happen is that the air pressure inside the car would increase until it balanced the pressure of the air being forced in through the window.

To wheelie with wind you would need to use a rear wing mounted on long poles, putting the centre of rotation at the rear wheels. Then if you drove quick enough the front wheels would lift off.

[Monkeylegend]

Was it the jelly mould Sierra that had a tendancy to blow it's rear screen out, thus laying waste to the OP's theory.

[Rubin215]

I went to the doctor the other day; I said, "Doctor, I have a terrible problem with wind."





















He gave me a kite...

[Monkeylegend]

Why did he give you a bird of prey?