Originally Posted by
Ruhlman Race Cars
The solution is so easy here. These cars are so aero dependant and make so much downforce that the lifespan of our engines between freshenings is half of what it used to be. We used to run our motors 1800-2000 laps between freshening. Now we have to send them in after around 800-1000 or else you risk having failures. The loading of the motors due to the high downforce is the cause.
The second issue is the large aerodynamic wake behind the cars which makes it almost impossible to race in a tight pack anymore without losing the nose and the ability to steer the car in that situation.
The third issue is the lack of visibility when racing in traffic. These spoilers are so high that you literally can't see beyond the spoiler of the car in front of you alot of times which is why these cars dont race in tight packs anymore.
If they cut the height of the spoilers in half from 8" down to 4", it would solve all 3 of those issues. The engines will last longer which saves money, we can race in tighter groups which allows more passing which helps racing in general, and it will give the drivers a better line of sight which will prevent wrecks and allow us to race closer.
Now, by doing this, the teams will reduce the size and length of their noses to re-balance the cars so the rest of the body rules will reign themselves in.
Will this work?? It has been done by STARS in 1995 when they reduced the spoiler size from 12" to 8". It solved all of the problems highlighted above. UMP did this back in the mid 1980's when they got rid of the wedge cars and adopted the smaller body rules. The UMP modifieds removed their spoilers entirely and it has doubled the time we can run our engines, we can use lower horsepower engines that cost less and are still competitive, and the racing is alot more fun because you can see better and you have to use your foot to be fast again.
i have preached this to several of the 'higher ups' in the sport but it seems to have fallen on deaf ears. I love this sport and it has been my life for the past 30 plus years. I am an engineer with aerodynamic experience as well as a driver who has driven these cars in the different configurations. The cost to implement a spoiler height reduction is minimal and implementation could be immediate. We have been improving these cars continuously and it is time for another aerodynamic "reset" to keep the sport alive and healthy.