An IndyCar that weighs 1 500 lbs can generate a downforce of

An IndyCar that weighs 1, 500 lbs. can generate a \"downforce\" of nearly 4,000 lbs. if it is traveling at high speed (in this case somewhere between 200 and 250 mph). When the car is right side up, determine the normal force if the car is traveling at a constant 225 mph and that is the speed where the downforce reaches 4,000 lbs. Next, assume that the car has been driven onto an inverted track. Can the car stay on the track at the same constant speed? If so, what is the normal force?

Solution

In general, it\'s better to sacrifice downforce to decrease drag on very fast circuits like ovals, whereas much more downforce is optimal for road courses. Downforce therefore varies between tracks, but in general F1 cars are optimized to create more downforce, since they mostly race on twisty tracks.

Since downforce scales as the square of speed, this would predict a downforce:weight ratio of roughly 6:1 at 200mph for an F1 car, which would be about 8000-9000 lb.

However, F1 cars are also more strictly limited in the use of ground effects. In F1, about 30% of the total downforce is generated by the floor, whereas I believe it\'s more in IndyCar