I wanted to explain what job the diffuser does because I get asked often and wanted to know myself...
I found a very detailed explanation on wikipedia that was pretty complex and then I found another that was more straight forward:
"The purpose of the diffuser is to allow the air that has been accelerated (so that its higher speed can produce a lower pressure) under the car to decelerate back to close to the same speed and pressure it was before the car ran into it. The better the diffuser works, the less drag the underwing produces."
You also see lateral fences or strakes in the diffuser area at the rear of the car. These have been banned from Indy cars (that means they worked), but Indy Lights and F1 cars still use them. The strakes probably do several things, but one of the most obvious is that they prevent low-speed, high-pressure air getting in along the sides of the car from disturbing the flow in the central area of the diffuser.
( http://www.insideracingtechnology.com/tech110underwing.htm)
My questions are, how much "drag" does the car have without an underwing and is the rear body designed to produce a simular effect of an underwing?
Thanks
I found a very detailed explanation on wikipedia that was pretty complex and then I found another that was more straight forward:
"The purpose of the diffuser is to allow the air that has been accelerated (so that its higher speed can produce a lower pressure) under the car to decelerate back to close to the same speed and pressure it was before the car ran into it. The better the diffuser works, the less drag the underwing produces."
You also see lateral fences or strakes in the diffuser area at the rear of the car. These have been banned from Indy cars (that means they worked), but Indy Lights and F1 cars still use them. The strakes probably do several things, but one of the most obvious is that they prevent low-speed, high-pressure air getting in along the sides of the car from disturbing the flow in the central area of the diffuser.
( http://www.insideracingtechnology.com/tech110underwing.htm)
My questions are, how much "drag" does the car have without an underwing and is the rear body designed to produce a simular effect of an underwing?
Thanks