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Race Car Technologies in Common Cars
Car racing has become the most popular sport today. Motorsports enthusiasts admire the technologies and speed of the race cars. But do you know that many of those technologies have found their way into the cars we drive everyday. Be it Formula One, Nascar, WRC or Dakar Rally, all have made significant contributions to make our car driving experiences more easy, powerful, performance oriented and highly safe. These cars are not Porsches or Ferrari’s but our everyday cars like Honda Jazz, Honda Accord, Toyota Corolla and more.
The goal of car racing events is to beat established speed records. And for this purpose car manufacturers enlisted the services of top car engineers, designers and race car drivers to help them in designing, manufacturing and testing with the cars. When any car racing team achieves a breakthrough in technology it finally finds its way to production cars. Let us look into some of these technologies which have changed the way we drive cars today.
The goal of car racing events is to beat established speed records. And for this purpose car manufacturers enlisted the services of top car engineers, designers and race car drivers to help them in designing, manufacturing and testing with the cars. When any car racing team achieves a breakthrough in technology it finally finds its way to production cars. Let us look into some of these technologies which have changed the way we drive cars today.
Aerodynamics
The evolution of car design has been one of the major contributions of designers. The exteriors design from the boxy (carriage like) cars to the sleek performance oriented cars. It is the contribution of racing events like Formula One, NASCAR and drag racing. During these racing events, every car material is used with purpose but is not necessary to look good. Speed in the cars depends on the aerodynamics of the car. That is why Lamborghini, Bugatti Veyron and the performance oriented cars appear so different from everyday cars. These cars have smooth flowing shapes which enhance power, performance and glamour. As race cars are designed to go fast, car designers added spoilers, hood scoops, and huge air dams to help keep the car stable at high speeds. They were all essential aerodynamic components which were added to everyday cars. Audi, under the stewardship of Ferdinand Piech, was among the pioneers to bring in these racing car designs to everyday cars. These aerodynamic designs looked good too.
Air Intake
Car Racing is basically a test of man and machine. However, Machines come with their own set of limitations. Car engines need to be boosted with huge amount of air to deliver best performance. Since car engines depend on combustion to create power, air is a necessary factor. The more air that gets into the engine the more better the combustion and better their performance. Moreover, engines give their best performance when they breathe cold air. This is because cold air helps thicken the air/fuel blend in the engine. This allows engine to give more output. That is why superchargers and ram air intakes are used in performance oriented cars. That is why they sport big air dams on the front end. See cars like Audi, BMW, Lamborghini, Dodge Viper and Nissan GT-R.
However, superchargers are not allowed in NASCAR or Formula One Cars. They are big in drag racing cars. As NASCAR and Formula One technology cars are built for speed and handling, drag cars are built for straight line speed. Drag racers used superchargers and ram air intakes to improve engine output. They also added hood scoops (opening on the hood like nostrils) to improve performance.
However, superchargers are not allowed in NASCAR or Formula One Cars. They are big in drag racing cars. As NASCAR and Formula One technology cars are built for speed and handling, drag cars are built for straight line speed. Drag racers used superchargers and ram air intakes to improve engine output. They also added hood scoops (opening on the hood like nostrils) to improve performance.
Transmission System
Automatic transmission and paddle shifters are some of the well known contributions of Formula One cars. Automatic transmission removes the need to manually shift gears and paddle shifters provide gear shift points on fingertips. The main use of transmission in a race car and the everyday car are the same- transfer of engine output to the car’s wheels. Race car driver wanted the control of manual transmission, but the manual transmission is prone to human error.
Hence, F1 teams developed the sequential manual transmission. These are actually automatic transmission that removes the need to change clutch pedal while changing gears. The F1 based racing transmission allows drivers to shift gears in sequence. They shifts are compulsorily in order. Shifting gears from one to third in a racing circuit is a sure method to create disaster. As such all racing cars have sequential manual transmissions. They are used in several speed driven cars. This technology made its debut in early 1990’s in the most high profile Formula One cars making it a big event in motorsports.
The next entrant was the Direct Shift Gearboxes or DSG’s and clutch less manual transmission. DSG actually consist of two transmissions where in one shift has only odd numbers and the other dial uses only even numbered gears. DSG is faster than manual transmission. DSG gearbox does not need clutch pedals and are less prone to driver error. Since it was developed by Volkswagen these are seen mostly in Volkswagen cars and Audi cars.
Hence, F1 teams developed the sequential manual transmission. These are actually automatic transmission that removes the need to change clutch pedal while changing gears. The F1 based racing transmission allows drivers to shift gears in sequence. They shifts are compulsorily in order. Shifting gears from one to third in a racing circuit is a sure method to create disaster. As such all racing cars have sequential manual transmissions. They are used in several speed driven cars. This technology made its debut in early 1990’s in the most high profile Formula One cars making it a big event in motorsports.
The next entrant was the Direct Shift Gearboxes or DSG’s and clutch less manual transmission. DSG actually consist of two transmissions where in one shift has only odd numbers and the other dial uses only even numbered gears. DSG is faster than manual transmission. DSG gearbox does not need clutch pedals and are less prone to driver error. Since it was developed by Volkswagen these are seen mostly in Volkswagen cars and Audi cars.
Tyres
Tyres or Tires are the single sources which connect the car to the road and helps drivers feel in control of the vehicle. Car racing teams understand these better than anybody else. As such F1 tyres are different from everyday tyres. Technology from these specialized cars has also been used in everyday cars.
Our cars tyres have grooves in them. These grooves allows tyre to brave water, snow and even muddy tracks. They are designed to allow the dirt away from the car. The grooves are deeper in bigger vehicles like SUVS and pick up trucks. Sports car tyres have fewer grooves that are shallow. The performance oriented tyres have grooves which are designed to firmly grip road surface and allow shorter stopping distance. F1 cars use very soft groove less smooth tyres which have a very short life span. The basic car design has been evolved from racing innovations over the years. Nowadays cars give better performance and have longer life span than their predecessors.
Our cars tyres have grooves in them. These grooves allows tyre to brave water, snow and even muddy tracks. They are designed to allow the dirt away from the car. The grooves are deeper in bigger vehicles like SUVS and pick up trucks. Sports car tyres have fewer grooves that are shallow. The performance oriented tyres have grooves which are designed to firmly grip road surface and allow shorter stopping distance. F1 cars use very soft groove less smooth tyres which have a very short life span. The basic car design has been evolved from racing innovations over the years. Nowadays cars give better performance and have longer life span than their predecessors.
Suspension
Everybody knows that cars today feature better suspension than classic cars. The ride quality is so smooth that nobody thinks about suspension until the car goes over a deep pothole. Suspension technology has almost directly transferred to everyday cars. Since in racing, the cars driver feel that all four wheels should maintain contact with the track. This adds stability and helps driver use all the power generated by the engine to move the car. Similar to our cars, racing cars use independent suspension. This system allows each wheel to move without influencing the movement of the other wheels. Formula One cars use multi link suspension, while NASCAR cars use McPherson struts suspension. Both types of suspensions are available in number of cars like BMW, Honda, Toyota and even Maruti Suzuki cars. But race cars behave differently because they the suspension adjustment is different. There are special tuners who will provide with performance oriented suspension. If you go for this remember the motive is to balance comfort with performance. Race cars don’t concentrate on suspension.
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