Radical DeltaWing rocket-shaped car proposed to revitalise IndyCar

[BigWarpGuy]

This Radical Deltawing looks like some thing Batman would have submitted or used. It is neat looking.

[headless]

looks good, would be good in a straight line, but useless in corners, front wheels too close together

[forestacademy]

Might be OK On the Big Oval, but useless on the City tracks

[theguywiththelongestname]

Originally Posted by forestacademy

Might be OK On the Big Oval, but useless on the City tracks

Go Speed Racer, GO!

[jwight]

The DeltaWing solution

Through 2009, a group of IndyCar team owners collaborated on a secret project to develop a prototype racer for the next generation of cars. The team surfaced publicly in December last year, and yesterday revealed their radical proposal for the IndyCars of tomorrow.

The DeltaWing solution is a wild-looking machine that pushes the boundaries of what you'd call an 'open-wheeler' to concentrate on massive aerodynamic drag reduction.

For starters, the wheels are almost fully enclosed - as much a safety feature as a drag consideration, when you think about how close IndyCar racing can get and how often wheel entanglements can send one car or the other airborne.

The front of the car is incredibly narrow, the wheels only 24 inches apart leading a spaceship-style fuselage that swoops back toward the cockpit. The rear of the car becomes gradually wider toward the rear wheels, which are 70 inches apart, and the rear wing spoiler has been ditched in favor of a vertical tail fin, helping to stabilise the car and prevent high-speed spinouts. The vast majority of downforce is produced by the ground effect underbody, which sucks the car down onto the track while producing a negligible wake - trailing cars should find it much easier to overtake.

Crucially, the car will weigh only half of what the current generation IndyCar weighs, and will produce only half the aerodynamic drag. This means it should be able to reach similar top speeds, around 240mph (386kmh), but with substantially smaller engines and getting somewhere near double the fuel efficiency.

Design promoted by a group of IndyCar team owners; you can bet it will more than suitable for racing in that series.

[headless]

Originally Posted by jwight

Design promoted by a group of IndyCar team owners; you can bet it will more than suitable for racing in that series.

Wonder if they went to Britain to get it designed and built, like they usually do

[Neonspinnazz]

I saw it at the 2010 Chicago Auto Show at the Bridgestone display. According to the demonstration there's enough downforce on the car for it to slip through corners with ease and just so little downforce as to let it open up in a straight line.

It's really just an idea taken from the Caparo T1 and improved upon.