Using Racing Techniques for better Fuel Economy
Improving Fuel Economy by Learning from Auto Racing
Achieving better fuel economy using auto racing techniques seems like an oxymoron as most race cars obtain only about one to three miles per gallon. They are not designed for conservation, but brute power and speed. There is, however, one aspect of auto racing which can be applied to our everyday transportation to procure better mileage. Efficiency. A race car is made efficient so as to accelerate and decelerate quickly, corner fast, and reach higher speeds. Our daily commuters are made efficient to save fuel, last longer and offer acceptable performance. Here are several design techniques used to make race cars faster that can be applied to our stock automobiles to gain mileage.
AERODYNAMICS. Any body moving through earth's atmosphere must displace the air around it. The air in front must be pushed out of the way while the air behind must be allowed to fill the vacuum created when the vehicle no longer occupies the space. Because air has mass, it resists this movement. This resistance is called drag.
A race car's shape is designed to displace the smallest amount of air possible and allow what is displaced to flow smoothly along the vehicle's surface. The less drag generated by the race car, the less horsepower is used up displacing the air, leaving more available to achieve a higher speed.
This technique can be applied to a commuter car, not to achieve a higher speed, but to require less horsepower when traveling at the speed limit. Because less horsepower is needed, less fuel is consumed.
WEIGHT REDUCTION. The less something weighs, the easier it is to move. You don't need a health club membership to understand this. Race cars must be built strong enough to protect the driver in an accident, and hold together under the stress of hard driving, but the lightest materials are employed to keep its weight as low as possible. Less weight allows for much quicker acceleration and deceleration, not to mention faster cornering.
When applied to a commuter car, less weight means less horsepower is needed to accelerate away from a light or a stop sign, or when driving uphill. Less horsepower translates to less fuel consumed.
FRICTION ELIMINATION. Whenever two or more adjacent objects move in relation to each other, the resistance to that motion is called friction. Imagine how much friction occurs in all the moving parts of an automobile. In a race car, parts are manufactured from exotic materials that are precisely machined and fitted accurately to reduce friction. Lubricating oils are carefully selected to protect moving parts and eliminate as much friction as possible. This allows for higher speeds and faster acceleration.
Even though incorporating exotic materials into our commuter cars would make them unaffordable, the more common less expensive materials used are likewise chosen and machined with friction reduction in mind. Also, the oils of today are the slipperiest compounds available since the beginning of automotive history. This attention to the elimination of friction allows our cars to move along at any speed using minimal energy and thereby consuming less fuel.
There is another benefit to employing the efficiency lessons learned from auto racing to the design of everyday commuter cars. Because these vehicles are easier to propel, smaller, more economical engines can be utilized, further reducing fuel consumption.
Auto racing is a worthy pursuit. It has brought us not only more economical cars, but safer, better handling ones as well.
