Tom,
ground effect is ok if you got them on the right point - means of the
pushing wheels. But also too much slow you down. Tom Burklands Datsun
got in the beginning so much downforce that he produced grooves in the
salt from the airtunnel closing panels. This was too much - when I
remember Tom Burkland's information right, he talked about 7000 pounds
downforce in the beginning. He cut the panels off and reduce them to
1/3 of the earlier downforce - you can see still the modified panels
under the Datsun - blue #313.
Also downforce helps only if you got enough power to move this
airbrake under your car forward.
By the way, when I understood properly than your friend got a wider
open in the front, narrows than to the half of the length of the car
and opens than again. This is dangerous by high speed - if he got bad
luck, the airflow under the car produce a compression in the front
half of the car - in other words in front of the narrowst gap - and
than the car will flip immediatly with out warning - Mercedes got
there his special experience...... The cross section from the front
to the middle of the car has to be the same or in front a little bit
smaller than, from there than on he can start to open the cross
section to the end of the car, than he will get the downforce on the
rear axle.
Also he need a minimum on downforce on the front - shorter the
wheelbase so more downforce he need on the front, otherwise the front
lift only from the downforce in the rear, a wonderfull example for
this reaction was the Jocko Johnson Streamliner - by 180 mph he
produced so much downforce BEHIND the rear axle that the front lift up
from the ground.....Don Garlits didn't like this effect.
This as a short information to ground effect.
See ya
Pork Pie
By the way, John, your information about wing aerodynamic is correct,
you used them only on the wrong object........
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