an alternative in reducing speed
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*the following applies to cars at high speeds*
the usual traditional way of slowing a car down would be to use brakes or a down shift in gear.
would it be feasible to use an increase in drag aerodynamically to achieve that effect? for example by install speical roof flaps on the car to spoil the aerodynamics and to slow it down. beside reducing the stress on the brakes when down shifting it also reduces the stress on the engine. it could also act as an emergency brake. for example, travelling at 130km/h suddenly the driver jams brake, the ECU would be able to know that the driver is trying to do an emergency brake, it automaticallly pops the roof flap open increasing the aerodyamic drag.
other then juz slowing down, instead of juz anyhow putting the roof flaps, is it possible to calculate an angle where the angle where the flap is erected produces a lateral turning effect in the car. an example would be the rudder of an aeroplan. will this lateral turning effect help when racers turn? in this way racers dont have to slow down that much as the roof flap reduces speed too. -
yea.. the flaps thingy is adopted on the SLR. just that it uses the spoiler as an air brake instead of roof flaps. if i'm not wrong, nascar uses roof flaps. not for braking, but if i'm not wrong, it is used to prevent the car from flipping during a spin out. something like that..
about the rudder thingy.. quite interesting if it ever gets on a 'car'
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adds alot of weight to "move" the rudders.. tts y dey invented differentials..
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Knight Rider has it, but you need K.I.T.T. and David Hasselhoff to do the rest.
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Or you can do it the traditional way with brakes, make sure they're ceramic though like the merc mclauren slr. 120mph(not kph) to 0 in under 6 metres. Problem is they glow red hot, and worst still, catch fire.