Nope. They aren't. But this is:
Posted on 02/12/2010 6:12:43 AM PST by Reaganesque
Two of four submissions have now been unveiled by the companies wishing to produce the next generation of IndyCar open-wheel racers, and the most recent one is one of the most fascinating looking racecars we've ever seen. The DeltaWing submission is a radical departure from traditional open-wheeler design - in fact, the only thing you could really compare it to is the bizarre lovechild of a drag racer and a Batmobile. With its comically narrow rocketship front end, broad rear end and narrow tyres, the DeltaWing aims to outperform the current crop of IndyCars for significantly less money, while delivering extraordinary efficiency gains and leaving a clear airstream for following cars, in order to promote close racing and overtaking. But is the public ready for a car that looks... so little like a car?
IndyCar racing is a close-fought and exciting spectacle, tailor-made for the American TV audience with its combination of oval tracks and road racing. In recent years, it has become pretty much a one-make series - Honda engines in a Dallara chassis - and while the Dallara gear has been successful, IndyCar's organizers are looking for a way to move forward in a way that promotes closer racing and technological development.
The Dallara chassis looks a lot like a Formula One car - open wheelers with big, flat wings at front and rear - and it's this aerodynamic configuration that has been proving problematic of late, as it has in Formula One. Because the cars rely on such massive downforce from their front and rear wing spoilers for cornering traction, a car that's following behind another car is at a severe disadvantage because it's traveling in a turbulent airstream that's been disturbed by the car in front. Overtaking becomes more difficult and the racing becomes less fun and compelling to watch.
The new machines need to help bring costs down too - in the aftermath of the global financial meltdown, there's not as much money going around to spend on things like racing, so the series is hoping to find a local American manufacturer that can bring entry costs down and encourage more teams to participate.
On top of that, the new designs are being evaluated on their safety, light weight, modern look, green credentials, sponsorship logo area and their ability to outperform the current generation's laptimes despite a drop from 3.5 liter engines to 2.0 liter engines. Quite an ask.
The DeltaWing solution
Through 2009, a group of IndyCar team owners collaborated on a secret project to develop a prototype racer for the next generation of cars. The team surfaced publicly in December last year, and yesterday revealed their radical proposal for the IndyCars of tomorrow.
The DeltaWing solution is a wild-looking machine that pushes the boundaries of what you'd call an 'open-wheeler' to concentrate on massive aerodynamic drag reduction.
For starters, the wheels are almost fully enclosed - as much a safety feature as a drag consideration, when you think about how close IndyCar racing can get and how often wheel entanglements can send one car or the other airborne.
The front of the car is incredibly narrow, the wheels only 24 inches apart leading a spaceship-style fuselage that swoops back toward the cockpit. The rear of the car becomes gradually wider toward the rear wheels, which are 70 inches apart, and the rear wing spoiler has been ditched in favor of a vertical tail fin, helping to stabilise the car and prevent high-speed spinouts. The vast majority of downforce is produced by the ground effect underbody, which sucks the car down onto the track while producing a negligible wake - trailing cars should find it much easier to overtake.
Crucially, the car will weigh only half of what the current generation IndyCar weighs, and will produce only half the aerodynamic drag. This means it should be able to reach similar top speeds, around 240mph (386kmh), but with substantially smaller engines and getting somewhere near double the fuel efficiency.
Teams should be able to buy the car, complete with engine, for around US$600,000 - and it will be manufactured in America by various parts suppliers and constructors, keeping transport costs to a minimum.
Dallara's competing design has already been shown - a fairly conservative reworking of the current IndyCar shape, but it's still going to be Italian-made, which will go down as a point against it as the IndyCar organisation considers proposals over the next few months.
The drivers seem to like the idea of it, and in addition to appearing to meet all the criteria, the DeltaWing is also the only one of the four entries to have produced a full-size demonstration model. So it's in with a good chance. We'd love to see one driven in anger - it's certainly the most radical and remarkable racecar shape we've seen proposed for a major code.
If you look closely at the front wheels and their openings you can clearly see there is no room for the wheels to turn. You couldn't even park in without putting dolly under the nose.
seems like a whole lotta work to stabilize the thing in turns, when if you put the narrow wheels in teh back ,adn the wide one on the front it would be inherently more stable without all that extra work.
as for sidecar races, I still don’t wanna be the guy in the sidecar;-)
Yes, it does have a "Speed Racer-ish" appearance. It also reminds me of a toy I had back in the '70s - a flywheel-powered Kenner "SSP Racer". It was shaped a lot like this car.
I always wanted to be the guy in the sidecar!
I have no problem with straight line stability, but Indy cars run on an oval track don’t they? the main problem is stability in curves and corners. the more stability you have in corners and curves, the faster you can take them, the greater your overall speed.
put the drive wheels in the front, wide apart, and they will pull the vehicle around the corners rather than be at the mercy of centrifugal force.
you do that (LOL~!) and I’ll watch;-)
It reminded me of that car too.....you and I are old to both remember that.....woohoo
Eventually they will all go the way of the hand crank, rumble seat, tail fin and distributor..................
Yet your little slogan there (or whatever) is that the spark plug's job is finished, as in complete now....which is not true.
Nope. They aren't. But this is:
I’m 64 now, so I think I’d have to pass. Used to race go-karts when they first came out. Most of the store-bought karts had sissy bars on each side of the seat. My Grandfather and I built mine. No sissy bars! I could lean over into a turn and put my helmet onto the track. Gave me a great advantage over the other racers! Very low COG, and a West Bend 580. Lots of fun!
I only know it because I saw the car on display in a lobby at the GM tech center in Warren Michigan a few years ago.
ping...
somewhere, i still have a windup toy car and launcher exactly like that but the colors are red and yellow...
Gotta build a bigger race track.
It must be a retro style,...I notice all those aerodynamic features in the body style they took from the aircraft industry just like in the 50s, big fins, air scoops like a jet air intake, even that phony cockpit,...like its really gonna go faster.....huh?
hoo boigh! I bet you had lots of fun. they call them ‘sissy bars’ fer a reason;-)
The wheels do not need to pivot. The car steers by left-right differential braking.
Ummm, ≤}B^)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.