2022

Aerodynamics Components of A Sports Car

April 10, 2022April 10, 2022 VD

Over the years there, you might have seen many changes in the Car design due to space requirements, legal restriction, best fuel economy and Power. Aerodynamics is an integral part of the car design process of both regular road cars as well as high end performance and race car design.

A moving car faces Air Resistance, gradient resistance and rolling resistance. Air resistance is resistance offered by the air to the moving object. It depends on several factors like shape, Size and Speed. Air resistance can be divided into two separate forces: drag and lift. The design of the vehicle should help to overcome these resistances. Engineers find many ways to minimize drag and lift force. Surrounding air always interacts with the car whether you are driving at slow speed or at high speed on highway or race track. At high speed you can quickly feel air resistance and also how car design is closely connected to handling at high speed. Airflow around the car is channelled; by using a rear spoiler, front air splitter that decreases lift. Lower the drag coefficient means better car performance. Wind tunnels are used to test the aerodynamics of the car.

Aerodynamics is the study of interaction between air and solid bodies moving through it. It has a tremendous effect on the way solid body cuts through walls of air. It defines car handling, performance and fuel economy. Aerodynamics evolved out of a combination of Physics, math and fluid dynamics.

Let’s understand how the aerodynamics component of the car helps to limit the air resistance, supply high pressure air to the engine for maximum output as well as helps in faster cooling of car brakes, intercooler and radiator.

Front Splitters

Many sports cars are low and close to the ground. There is a reason for it. Aerodynamic drag gets reduced if the frontal area of the car is low. When a car moves at high speed; air generates a high pressure zone and pushes the car backwards. The front splitter is placed below air dams. Front splitters are flat plates at front of the car that ensure the wind chips up and therefore keep the front of the car pushing downwards. It captures high pressure air and fragments it. This helps to generate downforce on the car.

Spoiler

Spoiler is also known as wings. Spoilers are placed on the rear of the car. The primary purpose of a car spoiler is to spoil unfavourable air movement. It’s an aerodynamic device, most often fitted to performance cars or sports cars. Spoiler pushes the car downwards. Spoiler is positioned high enough so they free oncoming air that does not create the turbulent air that is generated due to the geometry of the car. Air streamlines travel above the car while some air streamlines travel below the car body. Streamlines above and beneath the car should form a laminar throughout the length of the car but in real life this doesn’t happen. In real life; the front Airflow has a laminar but the airflow turns into turbulence due to sudden decrease in rear of car shape where air pressure drops. A spoiler helps to maintain laminar airflow. Spoiler also reduces drag that helps in good mileage. Spoiler helps to reduce vehicle lift which results in better traction control as well as better handling.

Scoops

Scoop is placed above the bonnet. Scoop forces airflow into the engine bay of the car if the car has a top mounted intercooler or radiator. It helps in faster cooling and better efficiency. Scoop also creates aerodynamic drag as it forces more air in the engine bay hence it is not a good choice to reduce drag as airflow comes from both front air dams as well as scoops.

Hood Vents

Some cars feature hood vents. When air comes inside from front air dams; it hits the radiator and goes through the radiator and then flows out through hood vents. Hot air flows out from the top. This helps improve downforce as air turbulence is not created since some air particles stagnate on the front of the car.

Front wheels of the car rotates at high velocity. That creates a high pressure zone. If that high pressure air is ventilated then that air colloids with incoming air and create further downforce.

Ducts help to keep brakes and engine components cool.

Side Skirts

Normally air slips underneath the car as the car gains speed. This wind creates drag and immensely affects car handling. Side Skirts restrict airflow entering underneath the car from sides which disrupts low pressure front. Side Skirts also improve car aesthetics.

Air Curtain

Air curtains are small aerodynamic devices. Air flows through the air curtain then reaches the front wheel of the car and then flows out from vents at the back of the fender. It also releases turbulent air that exists between the back of the front wheel and fender walls. This turbulent air may create drag. Air curtains are drag resistance devices. You may find them in normal road cars like Hyundai i20 N. It helps to make the vehicle more aerodynamically efficient as it directs air flow across the wheel to reduce wind turbulence.

Diffuser

Diffuser is placed at the bottom of the car. Diffuser spreads airflow below the car and airflow releases beneath the car in a controlled way and this improves transition of airflow underneath the car. This can really accelerate air beneath the car and create a low pressure zone below the car. It influences the car’s handling for example; it influences understeer or oversteer of the car.

Canards

Canards are also known as dive planes. It’s very important to have downforce in mid-engine cars. They help in forward balance of the car. Canards are actually small and make a small amount of downforce but canards help to create low pressure air underneath the car as the front splitter creates a high pressure region near the bumper. Hence proximity of canards and splitter is very important. You might have seen canards in GT race cars.

Air Dam

Air dam is an important aerodynamic part of your vehicle. Air dam is usually found at the bottom of the front grill of the car nose. Air dam ensures high pressure air should reach the engine. It directs airflow around the car instead of under it. The car will be more stable with an air dam when you drive at high speed. Air dam keeps the car nose pointed at the ground and keep it steady. Air Dam helps improve airflow and decrease drag. It adds great aesthetic appeal to cars.

What Makes A Car Best Fun to drive car?

March 10, 2022March 10, 2022 VD

Every car enthusiast always dreams of owning a sports car as they are fast, they look awesome, they thrill but they are expensive. If you are a person who loves sports cars, who loves driving, or who watches popular car shows you might have heard the terms Driver’s car or fun to drive car or an enthusiast car. Let’s understand what the mean and what makes a car really fun to drive. These cars can bring a smile to your face while driving no matter how frustrated you are. Even a small cars can bring serious fun while driving. Fun to drive cars offer you speed, performance, control and excitement while driving.

Here are the characteristics of Enthusiast cars.

Steering Wheel Feedback

Good characteristics of a real Drivers car is good steering wheel feedback. Good steering feedback is basically the movement of a steering wheel in your hands when the car goes over bumps and when the car goes over an undulating surface of the road. Another good characteristic of the steering wheel is when you rotate the wheel the more weight it gains as the car speed increases. There is more pressure on the steering wheel. A good steering wheel allows drivers more information and when drivers have more information; drivers can drive more safely. If you are driving on rough terrain or irregular surfaces you can slow down your car and take necessary precautions.

High Performance Tires

Tires are like shoes, different types of shoes available for different purposes similarly car tires are available for Racing, Off-Roading and all season for daily driving. Driver’s cars have performance tires that can offer you top notch performance with maximum grip and traction. High performance tires have stiffer sidewalls that are reinforced with steel or Kevlar that reduces rolling of the tire when you make steering inputs and that transmit more motion through the steering wheel. They have directional asymmetrical tread pattern. Speed and sharp cornering is no problem with performance tires. They can withstand higher temperature and give you maximum ability on tracks. You can extract maximum potential of performance vehicles with these tires. If you want to accelerate the car quicker, the car should have high performance tires. High performance tire even reduces braking distance.

Suspension set up

Most people think suspensions are used for rider comfort which is not true but the role of suspension is to maintain constant contact with the road and ensure there is traction to move the car forward. Suspension is always tuned as per the road condition where the car will be driven. To get a better steering feel and handling characteristics, the car should have better suspension set up. Performance cars use stiff springs. Body roll and lean can be controlled with stiff suspension. Performance cars have low ground clearance for low center of gravity and hence low suspension travel. Maximum aerodynamic efficiency can be achieved with specific ride height. Stiffer suspension doesn’t change the height of the vehicle. Performance cars should ride at constant ride height and for that stiff suspension set up will help. Performance oriented vehicles like Hyundai N, Ford Fiesta RS are also being driven on tracks and tracks are smooth and don’t have any rough patches.

Brakes

Braking should be more powerful than car speed, time to stop the car should be much lesser than time to accelerate the car. This stands true in the case of fun to drive cars. Fun to drive cars are made for outstanding performance out of the car whether on daily driving condition or on tracks and hence Performance cars should have high performance braking systems. Braking system, especially rotors, tends to get hot during harsh braking. Braking pads are designed for maximum performance in severe driving conditions. Braking pad compound is different in performance vehicles. There are many manufacturers like Brembo, Stoptech who manufacture performance braking components. Most people also prefer to do occasional track days, they need additional performance from the car hence the car should have improved braking. With fun to drive vehicles you drive a little faster and hence cars require brake upgrades.

Weight Distribution

When a car has perfect balance it massively improves the vehicles stability when cornering and it consistency of performance. Perfect weight balance is achieved when all four wheels of the vehicles is press down the road with exact amount of force. When a car has 50:50 weight distribution that means car has perfect handling. Weight distribution includes front and rear ratio, side by side ratio and cross weight ratio. Car weight always moves around its center of gravity When car is braking, Turning or even accelerating. The weight moves its direction of the car due to the suspension. When you turn the car to the right then weight moves to opposite direction and increase weight on left tires. When you drive straight and brake hard then front suspension is compressed and weight moves to front of the car. During sudden acceleration the rear of suspension compressed and weight moves to rear of the car this results in understeer of the car. Enthusiast cars have perfect weight balance that greatly improves the car handling.

Power to Weight Ratio

Car reviewers always talk about horsepower per ton or power to weight ratio. Power to weight ratio is a vehicle’s ability to accelerate faster. Imagine a truck and a small car standing at a signal when the light turns green. Performance cars makes more power for its weight than regular cars. These cars have higher BHP per ton weight of the car. Most modern performance cars have small capacity turbo engines like Hyundai GDI Turbo or VW TSI turbo that makes more power per ton which reflect into solid performance on highways and tracks.

Let us know in the comment box below which is your favourite fun to drive car.

Everyday Sports Car: Hyundai N Performance

February 15, 2022February 15, 2022 VD

One of the things that sets the Hyundai N Cars apart is excitement and the thrill that drivers get when he/she is behind the steering wheel. N is the official name of Hyundai High performance vehicles division. Hyundai N brand is similar to BMW’s M, Mercedes AMG and Ford Performance.

Hyundai has an R & D Center at Namyang in South Korea and test center at Nurburgring in Germany hence the N stands for Namyang and Nurburgring. High performance N Models are being developed at these two locations. N logo symbolize chicane of a race track, a sharp bend created to form an obstacle on motor track or on a road where driving skills and the car balance are tried and tested which reflects N. Hyundai N series cars are agile, fun to drive and symbolize thrilling driving experience in any condition whether you drive on a race track or on public roads.

It all started when Hyundai showcased Sports looking car in 1989. In February 1990 Hyundai Launched Scoupe which was the milestone of its first performance based vehicle. Later in the year 1996 Hyundai Tiburon was launched which was a sports coupe powered with 2.0 Litre beta Engine. Due to its stability and reliability, Tiburon received good response which led to the launch of Hyundai Tuscani which was powered with the most advanced technology of that time the all-new 2.7 Litre V6 delta engine. The success of Scoupe, Tiburon and Tuscani gave birth to Hyundai’s first Rear Wheel Drive sports Coupe Hyundai Genesis with better weight distribution. Prior to that all vehicles were Front Wheel Drive (FWD).

Hyundai began participating in WRC in the year 2014 after unveiling the Hyundai i20 N World Rally Championship concept at Paris Motor show in the year 2012. The Hyundai World Rally Team won its first Podium at the Mexico Rally. Hyundai started participating in high level motorsports activity Nurburgring 24-Hours Endurance race in 2016 with Hyundai i30N. Data gathered during motosports activity was ultimately used in development of high performance vehicles. The Hyundai N brand was born out of the World Rally Championship. All learning from motorsports is used in the development of road cars. Hyundai i30N was the first mass production N model launched in the year 2017 which was powered by a turbocharged GDi engine. Second model under Series was Veloster N launched in the year 2018. Later in 2018 i30 Fastback launched.

Hyundai N’s ultimate goal is to deliver enjoyment while driving. N offers an uncompromised performance that matches the various needs of different lifestyles. Many brands focus only on the fastest cars but Hyundai N cars are fun to drive. Many manufacturers use RPM metric to test their vehicles but Hyundai N uses beats per minute that measure how the driver gets excited while driving a Hyundai N car. Daily driver’s sports car is developed by maintaining focus on corner rascal, race track capability and Everyday sports car. Hyundai bought everybody right from suspension experts, tuning experts, Tire & wheel experts, engineers, designers under one roof at Nurburgring test center. It takes lots of involvement, technologies and inspiration to make a real fun drive vehicle that Hyundai N has achieved.

The heart of the car, engine and gearbox is calibrated for top notch performance. Being a performance car there will be a challenge to make performance a little bit closer to the edge. If you are talking about sports car you should not forget the engine sound. Engine sound is a crucial part of a sports car character. Engine sound really influences the driver. Hyundai N makes sure that the engine sound is just right that excites drivers during acceleration, cornering and rev matching. Hyundai has also developed a new 8 speed DCT transmission and three drive modes Power Shift, Grind Shift and Track Sense Shift that adds high octane characteristics to the car. The driver also has flexibility to shift manually using the paddle shifters or the gear shift knob. N brand is developed for enthusiasts who want a slightly different car than normal road cars. Every car is tested right from the suspension system, Steering system, Braking system, engine system and Transmission. The N cars have the best power to weight ratio.

N vehicles deliver comfort and convenience with power, performance and handling. Vehicle stability and responsiveness is enhanced by a high performance braking system, rack mounted motor driven power steering system and stability control. Various motorsports inspired features like electronic controlled suspension which further improves driving experience. A sports car will never be called a sports car until its handling and maneuver excites the driver hence N cars have ESC control systems, high performance braking, traction control, launch control. Electronic Limited Slip Differential and Traction Mode Selector that ensures excellent performance while cornering. N Vehicles have features primarily designed for race track driving like launch control and N Grind shift that ensures vehicles race track capabilities. Front grill of N vehicles are inspired by the checkered flag. Car has less aerodynamic drag thanks to its 10 millimeter lower stance. 19-inch alloy wheels, high performance Pirelli Tyres, large air intakes, triangular brake lights, N Logo on upper grill and Sports Seats lifts aesthetic appeal and vehicle stance. N series cars feature Sports seats with integrated headrests also inspired from WRC. The Aesthetic appeal of Hyundai N Line is enhanced with cosmetic sports update.

These fun to drive machines are second to none in terms of safety features like Blind Spot-avoidance Assist, Rear Cross-Traffic Collision-Avoidance Assist, and Forward Collision-Avoidance Assist. N Series cars interior also offers a sporty look and feel. Under N, Hyundai also sells performance parts like Carbon Fiber molding, Rear Diffuser, Rear spoiler, Gear Knob, Parking lever, Metal scuff plate, floor mat, steering wheel, alloy wheels, Air intake Kit, CRPF Strut bar, Brake Calliper to name a few.

N series cars are not only race capable but they are sporty, agile and fun to drive that will satisfy your daily driving needs.