All you need to know about vehicle aerodynamics

Understanding Vehicle Dynamics is key to unlocking the performance of any racecar. So here’s how it all works

A less understood but fundamental branch of motorsport engineering is racecar vehicle dynamics

First, let’s obtain a clear definition by breaking it down into it’s constituent words – ‘Vehicle’, self explanatory, and ‘Dynamic’, which is an adjective indicating something that is in a state of change. So, vehicle dynamics refers to the characteristic behaviour of a vehicle in response to a change in its external environment. That change could be in the form of longitudinal or lateral acceleration, roll due to a steering input or a wheel deflection due to a road input – anything that acts to induce a change to move the car away from its equilibrium can be classified as vehicle dynamics.

The fundamental task of a vehicle dynamicist when optimising a vehicle’s performance is to ultimately maximise the longitudinal and lateral accelerations the vehicle is capable of generating through maximisation of the tyre forces.

With the the tyre being the only part of the racecar in contact with the track’s surface it’s important to understand that every other associated component, such as wheels, suspension, chassis and even aerodynamic devices, are all designed to work in symbiosis to provide the best possible conditions for the tyre. In an effort to maximise the cornering forces each tyre generates, it is crucial to first understand exactly how and why a tyre generates grip, and why it doesn’t.

In Formula 1, vehicle dynamics science has the goal of understanding the dynamics and kinematics of the car from a physics and mathematical point of view so that performance and balance can be optimised.

Vehicle dynamics engineers are responsible for modelling and optimising car handling, braking, acceleration and ride performance.

Race car handling is about optimizing the behavior of the vehicle in response to the driver inputs.  

So, if we're going to truly understand vehicle dynamics, we have to look at it from both a vehicle setup and driver control perspective at the same time.