top of page
SPEED SECRETS
Weight
Weight or lack thereof is race car Nirvana.
On arrival at turn one, the driver of a light car can stay on the throttle longer before braking. And the driver can carry more speed into and through the corner because the car is not competing with the inertia of weight.
Downforce
The magic of aerodynamic downforce cannot be ignored.
A car with wings will have more grip
and tune-able balance.
And then there is ground-effects for a white knuckle, 'shock and awe' experience.
Power
Power is great.
But power in conjunction
with less weight is better.
That is why, when you're accelerating towards turn one, a 'power to weight' number is the power number that matters.
Note
Manufacturers calculate power to weight based on the dry weight of the car without a driver. This method favours light, small engine cars.
The calculations above are real world calculations, showing how the car would perform with fluids and a 75kg driver.
bottom of page