Thread: The DeltaWing lives

Originally Posted by anthonyvop

It looks like the car is hitting the apexes in this video with no problems.

Originally Posted by anthonyvop

What makes you think the Delta Wing would have had a low top speed?
The DW in ICS trim would have had a significantly smaller frontal area and so would have made up for any HP disadvantage. Also pack racing wasn't created by High Speeds but actually from too low of a top speed for the high down-force where the drivers could drive all the way around without ever lifting their foot off the throttle.

It had a low top speed because the engine only produces 300 horsepower. And I don't care what the nose on that display piece looked like; that was just a mockup, not a functioning prototype.

Going around a corner with the throttle wide open doesn't require an ounce of downforce. NASCAR managed to prove that the day it opened Daytona.

Originally Posted by call_me_andrew

It had a low top speed because the engine only produces 300 horsepower.

How do you know it has a low top speed?

Originally Posted by call_me_andrew

And I don't care what the nose on that display piece looked like; that was just a mockup, not a functioning prototype.

Going around a corner with the throttle wide open doesn't require an ounce of downforce. NASCAR managed to prove that the day it opened Daytona.

You really need to read up on modern race car dynamics. I don't care what car you are driving or what track. If you are going around 200 MPH into a corner you are going to ease up on the throttle or hit the brakes unless you have some serious down force and grip. Even at Daytona it wasn't till the "Aero-Wars" of the late 1960 did the speeds climbed astronomically.

It has a low top speed because it only has 300 horsepower. I have to keep repeating this because you seem unaware that this is a low number.

Even in the inaugural Daytona 500, drivers weren't lifting in the turns. As the Delta Wing is so light, it's sure to have plenty of mechanical grip in a wide-radius turn, and that's before we take banking into account.

Originally Posted by call_me_andrew

It has a low top speed because it only has 300 horsepower. I have to keep repeating this because you seem unaware that this is a low number.

Horsepower alone does NOT indicate top speed. There are other factors, not the least of which is weight, and if memory serves me, that was one of the things that was supposed to be very different about the Deltawing.

Gary

Weight typically doesn't impact top speed, just how quickly you get there. Top speed is limited by aero drag and frictional drag equaling the available HP.

However, given a defined distance, a heavy car may not have the space to accelerate to it's top speed before it runs out of room, but that is a different matter. Most tracks don't give enough room to get to a stable top speed, but at ones that do (Le Mans, Daytona), HP and drag will determine the faster car.

People keep trying to prove this thing wont work, and yet with every new piece of footage I see, it seems clear it does. As for the top speed, frontal area, drag and downforce all are mixed in with the effect of horsepower and gearing to give us a top speed. With 300hp, they really need to have low drag (which means little downforce) to get a big top speed. Then you look at the car, and you realize there is very little drag in that small needle nose and slick bodywork. If NASCAR can have a restricted engine with 450hp run `180mph with all that frontal area, then I think the Delta Wing has the potential to rip along at LeMans as fast or maybe faster than the GT's with just 300hp. It will be interesting to see, but it is clear to me Bowlby's theories are pretty much dead on so far...

It will never turn.

It doesn't have enough power.

The check is in the mail.

AutoRacing1.com - Hot News Page

Originally Posted by Nem14

It will never turn.

It doesn't have enough power.

The check is in the mail.

AutoRacing1.com - Hot News Page

I think it's a pretty impressive debut for the Delta Wing. Qualifying times at Le Mans puts in the back part of the LMP2 field. I would be curious to see how it would fair against Le Mans cars at a different type of track, say like Brands Hatch or Laguna Seca. Could it keep that speed at a twistier track where top end speed isn't as important? I hope it does well, though I think it will be a serious challange to make it all the way through the 24 hours.

IMO, not fast enough to be the next generation IndyCar like the original concept was planned.

realistically, we're looking at a very different car than the single seat Indycar version

But it still proves the basic DeltaWing concept - substantially reduced frontal area, 1/2 the weight, 1/2 the horsepower, and 1/2 the drag - is a lot more viable than many so-called 'experts' pronounced it would be.

Valiant effort by Motoyama to get the car back to the pits after being drop kicked off the track by Nakajima.. one thing is certain, Japanese drivers have perfected the art of the crash. They weren't being scored officially, so I feel they should have been allowed a tow back to the pits for repairs. I think they proved the concept worksat LeMans but it's going to need so show what it can do on a much tighter course. I'd like to see them be approved to run in P2 as a full competetor next year. Oh, and paint the car a color someone can actually see!. Between the very small frontal area, the small overall size of the car and the stealth paint job, drivers could not see the car.

The DeltaWing concept has raised one very interesting question: what would happen if you put wheels on a Flesh Light?

lol, you've been on two many "adult" sites.

I think they call that one the "Black Momba"