Is it true that the Saleen S7 creates enough downforce at high speeds to be driven upside-down?

[Random Variable]

How would you test something like that in the real world? Do they have an upside-down track somewhere?

BTW, the new S7 Twin Turbo lists a 0-60MPH time of 2.8 secs. :shocked:

 

[quakefiend420]

that would be really interesting to see...

 

[OrganizedChaos]

i hope not thats alot of drag.

 

[quakefiend420]

Originally posted by: OrganizedChaos
i hope not thats alot of drag.

but imagine the cornering...

 

[Sunner]

The F40(or was it F50?) could do that in theory, in practice, a car wouldn't work upside down.
Gas, oil, etc would fall to the top of their respective tanks, or even fall out entirely, which isn't too great.

 

[stephenw22]

I've heard that Indy and F1 cars have a downforce = 2x their weight. Of course, that's at 200mph.

I think it would be awesome to actually see it drive upside down though. Maybe some kind of modified wind tunnel?

EDIT: Oh yeah, I didn't think of the engine oil.

- So how can an engine-driven airplane fly upside down?

 

[davestar]

true. and a relatively simple matter to test in a wind tunnel with a scale model

 

[Reggae4k]

for the saleen to do so, you need to be doing at least 160mph. so the answer is yes if you are doing 160+

 

[conjur]

Originally posted by: Sunner
The F40(or was it F50?) could do that in theory, in practice, a car wouldn't work upside down.
Gas, oil, etc would fall to the top of their respective tanks, or even fall out entirely, which isn't too great.

Then how did J and K do it in Men in Black?

 

[kermalou]

Originally posted by: conjur

Originally posted by: Sunner
The F40(or was it F50?) could do that in theory, in practice, a car wouldn't work upside down.
Gas, oil, etc would fall to the top of their respective tanks, or even fall out entirely, which isn't too great.

Then how did J and K do it in Men in Black?


thats a mercedes!

 

[PricklyPete]

I believe this is also true of the Carrera GT and the Enzo (Can't remember where I read this...wish I coudl remember).

 

[KK]

Originally posted by: stephenw22


- So how can an engine-driven airplane fly upside down?

There is some type of modification that has to be done to make a plane be able to run upside down. I forget what exactly the modification involves.

 

[3chordcharlie]

Originally posted by: KK

Originally posted by: stephenw22


- So how can an engine-driven airplane fly upside down?

There is some type of modification that has to be done to make a plane be able to run upside down. I forget what exactly the modification involves.

The modification is to make sure the oil system doesn't rely on gravity in any way whatsoever.

 

[geno]

Not sure about an S7, but I've heard that F1 and other top end racecars have the aerodynamics that could, in theory, hold the car upside-down

 

[duke]

Originally posted by: Vespasian
How would you test something like that in the real world? Do they have an upside-down track somewhere?

BTW, the new S7 Twin Turbo lists a 0-60MPH time of 2.8 secs. :shocked:

The idea to test how much downforce is generated at speed and whether it can stick a car upside down is simple. I can't say this is how it's actually done in the real world, but all you need to do is put the car on a scale (that isn't affected by aerodynamic forces of the wind tunnel) inside a wind tunnel at speed and measure if the weight of the car increases by MORE than a factor of 2. I would think that if the weight increases by 3 or 4 times then it'll surely stay planted upside down at top speed.

 

[jemcam]

Originally posted by: KK

Originally posted by: stephenw22


- So how can an engine-driven airplane fly upside down?

There is some type of modification that has to be done to make a plane be able to run upside down. I forget what exactly the modification involves.

Look up wet sump vs. dry sump oil systems.

 

[CRXican]

I took mine upside down yesterday in a tunnel, but only for a few seconds. Didn't want to show off too much.

 

[mobobuff]

"Never push the red button."

 

[notfred]

Originally posted by: stephenw22
- So how can an engine-driven airplane fly upside down?

Most of them can't. The ones that can have expensive dry-sump oil systems that pump oil all though the motor rather than just pumping it to the top and letting gravity pull it back to the bottom.

 

[silverpig]

The car could drive upside down for a short period without mods I'm sure... A few seconds at most. With some modifications to the oil and fuel systems you could probably have it going for much longer.

One thing you have to consider though is you'd need more than 2x the down(up?)force. When going that fast there is a lot of drag on the car which is offset by the car's wheels pushing forward. The wheels need friction in order to work which is proportional to the normal force. At high speeds right side up, this is usually the weight of the car + downforce. When upside down it'd be down(up)force - weight of car. Less normal force = less friction = easier for wheels to break loose at high speeds.

But yeah, if you could get up to 3x the weight of the car in downforce then you could probably do it without many problems.

 

[Reggae4k]

http://www.pistonheads.com/fastcars/saleenS7.htm

 

[Phoenix86]

Originally posted by: Vespasian
How would you test something like that in the real world? Do they have an upside-down track somewhere?

If the downforce produced in wind tunnel testing is over the weight of the car, it can hold itself to the track, even if upside down.

I don't know if that car can do it, but F1s do produce x2 their weight at high speeds, so it's possible.

 

[Cleaner]

My father is very big into auto racing, builds engines, owns cars, etc. They use an oil pump system that is under pressure. As the car goes around the track constantly turning left all of the oil goes to the right side of pan. They use some special type of pan and oil pickup to counter this. Its not just a small modification its an expensive deal. Sorry I don't have more details but I'm not into it like my dad is.

 

[UNCjigga]

I imagine a big "Hot Wheels" style racetrack with upside-down loop-de-loops somewhere in the desert.

 

[hondAS2ooo170]

it is possible and it is possible to have an upsidown track if u start off with the right side up track first to get up to speed. and the gforce is atleast there weight it will work. but it is all tested in a wind tunnel.