But seriously, why *can’t* we have the windows up?

In reply to Jupboy :

The local dragstrip doesn't let you run A/C.  Not even a blower fan.

ShiftLess said:

I have a friend who lost her leg due in a rollover crash while offroading in Africa... 4X4 with no doors.   I have always wondered about the safety of tracking with open windows and the potential of an arm amputation due to an open window in a rollover crash.  

 

 

 

Over here you are only allowed open windows on race cars if you run a window net, to keep arms and stuff in.

During the summer, Road Atlanta let's us keep windows closed.  With speeds over 140, windows down is crazy.  The amount of buffeting is horrible and if I'm in my street car, the seat belt slaps my shoulder in the wind.

Pete. (l33t FS) said:

In reply to Jupboy :

The local dragstrip doesn't let you run A/C.  Not even a blower fan.

I understand the no A/C rule (they don't want water drips on the track), but no blower fan seems crazy to me. 

rslifkin said:

Pete. (l33t FS) said:

In reply to Jupboy :

The local dragstrip doesn't let you run A/C.  Not even a blower fan.

I understand the no A/C rule (they don't want water drips on the track), but no blower fan seems crazy to me. 

Yeah that's pretty wild. Gotta come from someone hearing that some cars still have the compressor on whenever the fan is on and believing it's the only way to prevent drips. That or someone believes that the cars will fill with noxious gasses and the drivers will all become gassed out zombies behind the wheel of missiles of death. 

ShiftLess said:

I have a friend who lost her leg due in a rollover crash while offroading in Africa... 4X4 with no doors.   I have always wondered about the safety of tracking with open windows and the potential of an arm amputation due to an open window in a rollover crash.  

 

 

 

There is a reason why window nets, arm resistants, etc are a thing. You have zero control of your limbs in a crash and worse yet, most peoples instinct is to stick an arm out to brace if they can.

JG Pasterjak said:

rslifkin said:

Pete. (l33t FS) said:

In reply to Jupboy :

The local dragstrip doesn't let you run A/C.  Not even a blower fan.

I understand the no A/C rule (they don't want water drips on the track), but no blower fan seems crazy to me. 

Yeah that's pretty wild. Gotta come from someone hearing that some cars still have the compressor on whenever the fan is on and believing it's the only way to prevent drips. That or someone believes that the cars will fill with noxious gasses and the drivers will all become gassed out zombies behind the wheel of missiles of death. 

"Gassed Out Zombies and the Missiles of Death" would be a great band name. GOZMOD for short.

Marjorie Suddard said:

JG Pasterjak said:

rslifkin said:

Pete. (l33t FS) said:

In reply to Jupboy :

The local dragstrip doesn't let you run A/C.  Not even a blower fan.

I understand the no A/C rule (they don't want water drips on the track), but no blower fan seems crazy to me. 

Yeah that's pretty wild. Gotta come from someone hearing that some cars still have the compressor on whenever the fan is on and believing it's the only way to prevent drips. That or someone believes that the cars will fill with noxious gasses and the drivers will all become gassed out zombies behind the wheel of missiles of death. 

"Gassed Out Zombies and the Missiles of Death" would be a great band name. GOZMOD for short.

Hey man I saw GOZMOD back when they were cool and they were called "Ed and the Boats" before they sold out.

JG Pasterjak said:

 

Modern cars also tend to be massive buffet-boxes for whatever reason. Like, driving a Supra on track is borderline hazardous because of how bad it shakes your head and affects your vision. 

 

I added some small deflectors (about $16 from Etsy) at the leading edge of the window on my GR86 - that has eliminated the buffeting as far as I can tell. Prior to that, it was painful.

Of all the various cars I have driven on track or instructed in, none of them had significant wind buffeting at speed. Even in an open cockpit car (FF, Form Mazda, Exocet, etc) , my helmet and shield managed it quite nicely.

Seems odd.

In reply to DaleCarter :

This is very car specific, and often has a specific speed range, not necessarily directly speed related. Pushing glyn's GR86 beyond it's current VMax might also eliminate the buffeting. More than $16 though just for the experiment!

I will ad to the discussion to the extent that I think it is incumbent upon all of the participants to actively lobby for the closure of the windows in most cases. Ventilation is the only excuse for opening them. This was also the intent of the rule I first saw in a 1962 edition of the SCCA GCR. It specifically allowed closed windows if you could prove adaquite ventilation. What car built in the last 30 years fails that ??

Basically the more aerodynamic the car is (over the side specifically) the more the window being open will disturb the flow and create buffeting. One of the core contributions to this is the trend for newer cars to move the side mirror attachment point from the leading edge of the window area down to the door. This significantly cleans up the airflow over the window area and is why putting a little deflector at the leading edge of the window usually clears up the buffeting.

Never had buffeting in any of my cars, even with hitting 140mph+ on the track.