writes:
> |> Hi,
> |>
> |> When playing F1GP I noticed that I was able to gain sometimes 15
or more
> |> km/h when going close behind another car in a 315 km/h straight.
> |> It seemed also that I kept getting more speed even *after* I was
side
> |> by side with the other car. My question is: how realistic is
this effect ?
> |> It looked a little bit too much to me ...
Its called drafting, and thats exactly how it works. When you are
following behind another car, the drag or wind resistance is
effectively split between the two of you (same frontal area, but now
the length is doubled) therefore each car experiences less drag than
it would on its own. This translates into an increased topspeed for
the both of you. Now comes the fun part, the car in back is really
in control and the car in front better know it. When the rear car
dips out to pass, all of a sudden the front car looses the benifts of
having the drag divided between two cars (same frontal area, but now
just one car length) and thus is slowed. The rear car also
experiences this, but it is not as sever a slowdown. The most
effective way to pass is for the rear car will drop back a little,
and then as it accelerates to the front car's rear end, it
should quickly cut to the side to pass. Both cars lose speed, but
because the rear car was going faster in the first place
(accelerating up to the rear end of the front car) it can still
easily pass the car in front.
--
Eric T. Busch
Emory University
