Caparo T1 Supercar: What do you reckon?

Simon said:
All the testing in F1 aero is to get maximum downforce with minimal drag.
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Yeah, but as nick said (who's an F1 aerodynamicist(sp?)), the tyres are the major problem with F1 cars' drag.

This covers them, so surely there's more room for improvement in the way of downforce.

This would mean potentially, they could have more downforce with less drag, by increasing wing downforce(increases drag), but covering wheels (decreases drag).
 
georges said:
Yeah, but as nick said (who's an F1 aerodynamicist(sp?)), the tyres are the major problem with F1 cars' drag.

This covers them, so surely there's more room for improvement in the way of downforce.

This would mean potentially, they could have more downforce with less drag, by increasing wing downforce(increases drag), but covering wheels (decreases drag).
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We aren't just talking about straight line though are we.
 
georges said:
Yeah, but as nick said (who's an F1 aerodynamicist(sp?)), the tyres are the major problem with F1 cars' drag.

This covers them, so surely there's more room for improvement in the way of downforce.
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Yup. The biggest contributer to drag for an F1 car are the exposed tyres. You get a massive pressure difference between the front face of the tyre which is normal to the free stream flow (where static pressure is at a maximum - the air is stagnant) and the back of the tyre (separated, turbulent air in the wake). So effectively the air is pushing hard against the front faces of the tyre and there is lots of lost energy due to viscous interactions in the wakes.

By covering the tyres in a tear drop like nacelle you allow the air to ease its way over the tyres and remain attached for as long as possible (notice the long tapered geometry behind the Caparo's wheels), effectively eliminating the pressure drag component as seen on an open wheel racer.

As georges said, by reducing the basic drag level you would create the potential to find more downforce and not exceed the open-wheeled car Cd.

Also, the rear wing on the Caparo is miniscule in F1 terms. From massive diffuser exit I'd say the floor aerodynamics of the Caparo is pretty impressive, and floor generated suction is relatively drag free. The large amount of downforce generated by the floor allows for a much smaller rear wing - and in F1 terms the rear wing is very inefficient (lots of drag!).

I'm starting to talk in circles. The point is the Caparo looks excellent in terms of aero efficiency (judging only by pictures I have seen - I have no numbers or design specs). I'd say the top end speed could very easily be higher than an F1 car, but the relatively scrawny Caparo wings means it would generate a lot less downforce and an F1 car would drown it through the bendies.
 
NicktheNorse said:
Lol, actually, the aero on the Caparo will be "better" than an F1 car. The Caparo's drag coefficient will be significantly less than that of a modern F1 car (I'd guesstimate about half).

Caparo weight = 550 + driver = 615
F1 car weight = 605

Caparo bhp = 750
F1 bhp = 750


Give the caparo some good rubber and sensible gear ratios and it will almost certainly reach a higher top speed than an f1 car.

Cornering speeds however, as you say, will be nowhere near. From the pictures the Caparo is reasonably lacking in wing produced downforce, although to be fair its difficult to judge the overall downforce producing potential because there are no pictures of the floor/undertray.
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As I said before, on the power side of things, and the weight side of things, everything is definately to the Caparo's advantage.

The brakes can no way be a match for an F1 as they will have to last much more than the 200 miles or so of an F1 car. You could easily however fit F1 style carbon brakes as it is an option that is available should you wish.

As for the aero all I know so far from what I have been told, and read, is that approx 40-45% is from a ground effect undertray and rear diffuser, the rest is from adjustable wings and bodywork, there are also various different wings that can be specified depending on what you want to do with the car.

Finally as another stat to show at the strength of the Caparo's aero package, is that it could run upside down at around 120-130 mph, the package generates that much downforce with minimal drag.
 
NicktheNorse said:
Lol, actually, the aero on the Caparo will be "better" than an F1 car. The Caparo's drag coefficient will be significantly less than that of a modern F1 car (I'd guesstimate about half).
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Maybe 'better' means it makes a car go round corners rather than how fast you can make it go in a straightline.
 
The Caparo gets to 100mph in the same time as an F1 car takes to get to 125mph.

Read this months EVO, its no where near an F1 car. A friend has seen it and wasn't impressed with the finish, especially on a £250k+ car
 
Saw one of these at Goodwood. Its a lot bigger in real life, which is strange as most cars are usually a lot smaller than they look in pics. It went up the hillclimb pretty quick too.
 
I would say it's more a track car, than a super car.

road pointless hasn't got enough grunt or a 2nd seat. Track car awesome.
 
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Simon said:
The Caparo gets to 100mph in the same time as an F1 car takes to get to 125mph.

Read this months EVO, its no where near an F1 car. A friend has seen it and wasn't impressed with the finish, especially on a £250k+ car
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Yeah I saw this at the weekend. The article claims that by the time the Caparo has done 0-100, the F1 car will have done 0-100-0. Couple that with the two extra G's that the F1 cars can manage on the corners and the Caparo will have been absolutely trounced.
 
2 seater!!!! i bet its tight the cockpit looks narrower than my computer chair. Not so sure about the shape, looks like a 4 year old boy who watches starwars has drawn it. Im sure the engineering is fantastic and no doubt it will be arse tearingly fast.
 
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