Weight of formula racing cars...

[Externet]

The heavier a racing car is, the less it performs.

 

Spoilers provide more attachment to the track by pushing the vehicle down.

 

Is this pushing down equivalent to increasing the weight of the vehicle ?

If yes, the suspension compresses more at higher speeds. right ?

 

-Stay with flat, level road, fixed spoilers...-

[KipIngram]

I wouldn't think that the two are equivalent - the desire for lower weight is driven by desire to accelerate forward more quickly, and the spoiler doesn't increase the mass in a way that would limit that. That said, the spoiler will create at least some additional air resistance, which is also bad. But the reduction of forward acceleration that would create wouldn't correspond to the weight required to produce the equivalent extra down force.

[Externet]

...and the spoiler doesn't increase the mass in a way that would ...

Leave the mass alone, please.

[iNow]

-Stay with flat, level road, fixed spoilers...-

Then they would slide right off the road when attempting to turn due to lack of downforce. Finding a balance is key. Too much and your competition passes you on the straights. Too little and your competition passes you in the turns.

 

Many formula cars have adaptive spoilers... less downforce on straightaways, more on the twisties.

I find it easier to think of the spoilers like wings on fighter jets, just turned upside down so the "lift" goes in the opposite direction.

[Externet]

Thanks. Yes, less weight is less friction for competitive steering; and can become airborne in straightways after losing traction.

[HB of CJ]

I think the mass would remain the same. Also don't the newer cars have computers that optimize the down pressure at speed to minimize aerodynamic drag? Dunno.

[dirtyamerica]

We don't want to confuse weight with mass. Sure, the spoilers pushing down on the car would make it weigh more on a scale but the mass of the car stays the same (besides the burning of the fuel, tire wear, etc.) A car with so much mass will have so much inertia, preventing acceleration, no matter how much it is pushing down on the ground.

 

Imagine a bowling ball hanging by a helium balloon. It weighs nothing but will still be difficult to push because it's still made up of more and denser "stuff" (atoms).

 

Or a balloon and a bowling ball inside a space station. Both have zero weight but trying to move the bowling ball will still be more difficult.

 

Weight is a function of gravity (or the downforce of wind). Mass is a function of the amount of elementary particles that the object is made of.

[Electrical]

In Formula cars, there are two major factors downforce and drag. Downforce is good while drag is a byproduct created due to downforce. It is correct that downforce depends on the weight of the car, but we can't increase the downforce beyond certain limit coz the drag will increase by the same rate which will badly damage the working of the machine.