Racing Motor Car Design

Abstract

The development of the racing car to-day is taking place almost entirely in Germany and Italy. It is true that during the last few years British cars have figured prominently in the lists of world speed records, but the cars used for these attempts are not racing cars at all in the true sense of the term.

The most important single factor in the suspension of a racing car is to keep the unsprung weight down to an absolute minimum, and this is one of the chief aims of the designer. Independent suspension at all four wheels has been found to have advantages quite out of proportion to the mere saving in weight. There is now a fairly general agreement that if the centre of gravity of a racing car is too low, the tendency to skid is increased. Racing cars built on the front-wheel drive principle have had a considerable success in America, but they suffer from the drawback of instability at the critical speed when rounding a corner.

Brakes and transmission have both been developed to a high degree of perfection, but resemble in principle those now used on touring cars. Supercharging is general, largely as a result of special circumstances which the author discusses. The use of heat-resisting alloy steels has also become an important factor in the design of the engines.

The author considers also the influence of fuel, tyres, and streamlined shape on the maximum speed attainable on land.