Thanks Gordon, I was about to remove my hood latch and go for a 80mph
cruise just to see what happens.
Todd if you add enough power you can make a roadster fly Osborn
Gordon Glasgow wrote:
>
> The air that goes through the grille and through the radiator has to go
> somewhere. Mostly, it goes out under the car. When this is combined with
> the airflow going under the bumper, the result is high pressure under
> the front of the car, resulting in that floating feeling. An air dam
> diverts some of the air that would normally go under the car around to
> the side, which lowers the pressure.
>
> Some of the studies done in the '60s on American cars showed that there
> was a negative pressure area near the front of the hood, which turned
> positive about halfway back and peaked at the base of the windshield.
> That's why Chevy built the cowl-induction system for the Camaros and
> Chevelles.
>
> So the roadster hood sees pressure from underneath and on top,which
> makes it balance out pretty nicely even when the hood latch fails -
> until a truck goes by and disrupts the flow. I'd guess the "bow wave"
> from the truck deflects the over-hood airflow, and the pressure under
> the hood causes it to lift.
>
> --
> Gordon Glasgow
> http://www.gordon-glasgow.org
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