I'm working on a personal aero project that I'd love someone more knowledgable than I to at least steer me in the right direction, I know just enough to get in trouble but not enough to answer some simple questions. The problem is I'm trying to keep some of this partially private. I'd really love some input but I'm reluctant to share all my thoughts and designs openly. Not out of fear of being wrong, but more so out of fear that the competition is watching, lol. This isn't a typical car project, I'm currently working on a kart.
I have had some concepts rolling around in my head and I have a few qustions that I feel are important, but maybe I'm wrong and I'm getting hung up on some of these things because I don't know how to answer them and I'm not sure if they're even as important as I'm making them. I've saught out professional help and honestly with current aero budget of shoe strings and bubble gum, that's pretty well out of the question. So if ANYONE is interested in even answering the dumbest questions I have maybe it would shed some light on a few things for me to at least settle in on a chassis design and aero package trial design.
This is for speedway(Oval Kart) kart chassis, that can be highly modified body wise. Typical speeds are 50-80mph, with avg corner speeds in the 50-60 range. Solid chassis, no suspension.
At what point is an under tray too shallow to even be effective? And, by under tray I mean a full designed tunnel with splitter to diffuser, with hopefully everything flowing and working correctly from front to back.
Or what's the lowest the chassis can be to the ground before it's not even worth the hassle of designing and implementing an undertray?
The karts are typically an inch to inch and a half off the surface. Is this enough to get a meaningful benefit, or a waste of time to devote to full implementation of a tunnel and diffuser? I know there are so many factors, but let's assume it's been designed well and not by me. As long as the front isn't too low and allows good flow under the front or it pulls from the correct spots, is any flow beneficial? Or would a pure flat bottom with no diffusers or tunnel built in be the simpler and better route?
If not, say the minimum distance was half and inch with as much as two inches in the center and a diffuser or around 4-6". If the chassis was designed to allow to for more, where is the threshold where it's effective? The reason I'm asking is the chassis I'm designing could potentially be made to utilize a higher floor if that was worth persuing. But, I'm not able to test and verify much, so I'm relying on the generosity of those more knowledgable than I. If you'd like to discuss more privately and are really interested in some of my designs, I can share some drawings and explanations. I'd really appreciate any help. And, this is sort of the tip of the iceburg as far as questions. I'm really trying to nail down some more solid ideas based on good information so I can finalize designs.
