Max Downforce | Hill Climb 1993 Honda Civic

https://www.youtube.com/embed/vw6rOJ11dV8

Cody Loveland has built some wild creations over the years. In this Toyo Tires video they explore the process and inspiration behind his full tilt, full-aero 1993 EG Honda Civic.

Watch more videos

Interesting, first time I've seen an F1-style "tea tray" underfloor added to a production car! Looks like the chassis is riding at least as high as stock to allow for that, but then that gives room for those massive wheels.

That car is nuts...in a very good way. I first learned about the Enviate in a thread last week, now this. That guy sure makes some interesting machines. Wonder if he could be persuaded to bring something to the UTCC?

I love that he can drive it on the street, because Michigan. 

oh man, off to dream of more turbo j-swaps...

mazdeuce - Seth said:

I love that he can drive it on the street, because Michigan. 

As much as I bitch about the cost of Michigan insurance, at least we don't have inspections or for that matter anyone at all giving a E36 M3 about what we drive.  

J series has me wanting an accord/TL.

watching that, and thinking about it some more... it makes me realize that as you reach up to the higher levels of TT, and are no longer constrained by "width from the fenders" but instead "maximum width", and you're restricted to using "an OEM shell"... that FWD has a number of benefits, and that you probably want to find the narrowest car to start your build from.  although, you probably want a longer front overhang... which probably is a very limited selection of car

It being FWD, is that much rear downforce really beneficial? 

In reply to jstein77 :

How else would the car be grounded to the ground? Don't want a stock Camry beating you 

jstein77 said:

It being FWD, is that much rear downforce really beneficial? 

it's probably to balance the additional downforce on the front end, it's not a straight line car so in high speed corners you want, more or less, equal downforce everywhere

jstein77 said:

It being FWD, is that much rear downforce really beneficial? 

Potential benefits of rear downforce on a race car:
- Put more load on all the tires that are doing the turning
- Increase zones of low pressure can help pull more air out of the diffuser, which actually increases front downforce

Potential benefit of rear downforce on a FWD race car:
- Makes rear brakes more effective
- Makes rear tires more effective than 'static' weight balance provides

Just read the article in this months magazine.  Wow.  Can anyone explain the notch in the upper edge of both front endplates?

thx

Adrian_Thompson said:

Just read the article in this months magazine.  Wow.  Can anyone explain the notch in the upper edge of both front endplates?

thx

great question!

I'll hazard to guess they are Vortex Generator cut-outs that are creating a vortex that is on the outside of the endplates.

Those VG's could have a number of possible benefits... from helping keep the second upper element on the front splitter active, to helping draw cooling air out of the ducts behind the front wheels, to blanking off drag from the rear wheels, or d) all of the above, e) some combination of all of the above, f) something else entirely that someone is free to come school me about.

sleepyhead said:

I'll hazard to guess they are Vortex Generator cut-outs that are creating a vortex that is on the outside of the endplates.

Those VG's could have a number of possible benefits... from helping keep the second upper element on the front splitter active, to helping draw cooling air out of the ducts behind the front wheels, to blanking off drag from the rear wheels, or d) all of the above, e) some combination of all of the above, f) something else entirely that someone is free to come school me about.

That's really interesting! I've been reading about 'wheel curtains' recently, and it sounds like they are effective. The idea goes like this:

Some obscenely large amount of the aerodynamic drag of a vehicle comes from the wheel. Therefore, keeping air from contacting the wheel is a good candidate for reducing drag. One way car manufacturers are starting to do this is by taking some of the high pressure air immediately in front of the bumper and ducting it into a 'curtain' just outside of the front wheel. This curtain of air promotes good flow around the wheel (and prevents outside air from getting sucked into the wheel or wheel well), and therefore reduces drag. 

Seems likely that vortices outside the wheels could be similar. But with a vortex you have to be careful since there is a drag penalty for creating it in the first place.