The Aerodynamics of Speed

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[TheWinning]

Impeccable shaftsmanship at the end there, solid 10/10. The video was pretty good too.

[warrantyvoid]

My neighbour is nearing 90 years old, he's an aero engineer who has consulted extensively since his retirement in his mid 70s. He's sharp as a tack and still gets calls from DoD colleagues when they are stuck. I was stunned when he told me about some of his colleagues in the 1950s joking about their previous work... "Ze guidance has to be so accurate now, my last boss vas happy as long as ve hit London"

[thecma]

Just discovered this guy and he's the first YouTube car guy I've seen caveat literally every idea for car aerodynamics. When he introduced who NACA was instead of just saying a NACA duct sucks in air, I knew he's the real deal.

[hanava]

I burst out laughting everytime you showed Kermit flailing his arms around to display turbulent flow. This is one of the best, most visual descriptions I've head and I'm going to use it from now on!

[polomarknot]

Everyone always asks if I ever took an aerodynamics class in engineering school. Of course I tell them I did, but the class was not whatever they imagine aerodynamics to be. It is a dark art, with understanding inversely proportional to knowledge.

[jeffreysalzman]

I'm wholly impressed by how you wrapped up a very serious dissertation on aerodynamics with a dick joke.

[GriogharThomasBaldwin]

I’ve watched probably 100+ aero videos, and this is hands-down my favorite, ever.

Thank you for that.

[jamesrafael]

The transition from aerodynamics to bio mechanics is incrementally subtle.

[Lierofox]

17:00 if you're in the UK the custom is to attach a small bell at the front to get a sense for how much the air is flowing, this also helps you remember which end is the front. It's the bellend.

[agmlego]

Probably one of those things that is significantly different between hydrodynamics and aerodynamics, but one of the things we have found in racing sailboats is that a slick, glossy hull surface is often slightly less performant than a sanded, matte surface. Something about the roughened finish wetting, making the dominant interaction be water on water instead of water on fibreglass.

The Olympic Soling class used this to great advantage; you could tell pretty quickly who sanded their hulls and who polished them. The sanded hulls were usually a boatlength or two ahead consistently.

[IstasPumaNevada]

After reading up on theory and (tested) examples on an ecomodding website, I made some aero mods to my 2005 Accord to reduce its drag (for fuel efficiency reasons, not speed).
I did A-B-A-B testing during relatively stable weather. Runs in both directions, straight level road, no traffic, using cruise control with the car left on for consistent speed.
Short airdam w/ curved lip connected to a partial undertray under the engine bay, partial grille block, side mirrors folded back. Could add/remove all at the side of the road with simple tools.
Got ~4.25% fuel efficiency improvement at 55mph. Pretty happy with that.

[Maxzillian]

I'm beginning to think every car Matt works on needs to have a hidden phallus somewhere.

[jonathangehman]

About 20yrs ago I cut up 200 ft of 1/4 clear vinyl tubing and ran it from inside my 66 Belvedere hardtop to points all over the body. Base of the windshield, grill, fenderwells, area behind rear window, and like that. Then I had my buddy Sam drive me around on I-81 at 80mph while I hooked up each tube to a furnace exhaust stack vacuum gauge and wrote all the results down. My plan was to figure out where the high and low pressure areas were so I could see if there was any way to duct the high pressure air to the low pressure areas to reduce drag or make it rain behind the car or something. The only thing the experiment indicated might be helpful was to remove all the glass from the car. I still have the notebook with all my "data" and handrawn outlines of a mid60s Mopar intermediate. I think writing this comment is the first time I've gotten any benefit(?) from all that "research". Thanks. All hail

[natesteiner]

The Dodge Charger Daytona and Plymouth Superbird, Chrysler's NASCAR homologation efforts around 1970 used textured vinyl on their roofs. This served two purposes, first the rough texture did have a "golf ball" effect which helped stabilize a shape that was never designed to go 200 MPH. And second and perhaps more importantly, it covered the slapdash bodywork done to the 2500 street versions they had to try to sell. NASCAR banned vinyl tops for 1971.

[kwik]

This feels like it addressed everything I ever cared to know about aerodynamics minus all the math. great video!

[TheEconomyChart]

Your intro regarding confidence in aerodynamics applies to just about anything complicated: Cyber security, data analytics, AI, environmental science, etc.
I find that entertaining

[VanderGroejn]

So glad we never have to experience childish humour on this channel.
Cheers mate. 🍻😁👍

[apricity]

A belly tank racer with a small hole for a ram air scoop explained it to me like this: He calculated the volume/mass of air going into his intake hole as a cylinder of air extending from the start line to the finish line. He calculated the diameter of the intake hole based on that.

At 200mph, the hole was slightly larger than a quarter.

[Chris.Davies]

Thanks for not conflating fast with quick.
Traditionally of course, you just made your vehicle light, and put the most powerful possible engine in it.
Aerodynamics was what you had to resort to when your car wasn't fast enough!

[gareth]

That diagram at the end made my Monday, thanks Matt 🤣🤣