ZG flares, extra drag from tyres?

[Orphan]

Hey guys,

 

Just a quick question, with the ZG style flares you end up with a fair amount of tire out of the body, does this have any noticable effects on drag and general aero? In any motorsport class other than open wheel they are always completely enclosed on the front and often left open at the rear to reduce pressure build up in the wheel well.

 

Does anyone know if there are any noticable effects of having the tire sit out from the body?

 

Regards,

David

[ZR8ED]

Simple answer is anything that "sticks out" in the air stream is going to increase drag. That goes for the flares and any additional tire sticking out.

 

Several of us here have been working/worked on blocking the "exposed" portion of the treads of the tires. Most flares and air dams do not fully block the front of the tires (the front wheels or back wheels.) There are several threads in this section about it.

 

Scott.

Edited April 9, 2010 by ZR8ED

[Sideways]

Simple answer is anything that "sticks out" in the air stream is going to increase drag. That goes for the flares and any additional tire sticking out.

 

Several of us here have been working/worked on blocking the "exposed" portion of the treads of the tires. Most flares and air dams do not fully block the front of the tires (the front wheels or back wheels.) There are several threads in this section about it.

 

Scott.

 

Correct me if im wrong but i was under the impression that the wind tunnel tests showed that adding flares reduced drag? Test 20 in the results on the test mule.

[Leon]

Correct me if im wrong but i was under the impression that the wind tunnel tests showed that adding flares reduced drag? Test 20 in the results on the test mule.

 

Were the wheels spinning in that test? Nope. Spinning wheels, especially at high angular velocities will create a lot of drag, so much so that it is very beneficial to block off the wheels as much as possible.

[Orphan]

Thanks for the replies guys.

 

EDIT: Can anyone comment as to how noticable the increase in drag is? Having a hard time finding full flares for the vehicle in question, most are similar to the ZG style flares for the Z.

Edited April 10, 2010 by Orphan

[Orphan]

Thanks for the replies guys.

[Mayolives]

QUOTE:"Can anyone comment as to how noticable the increase in drag is?"

 

"Noticable" is a word that could have a lot of meaning. Could I feel the amount of drag created by adding fender flares? Probably not. But refering to aero changing items in general, it's the sum total of the improvements that make a noticable difference on the clock. We have discussed this before. When adding up the effects of a number of little aero improvement devices, the difference can be noticible!