Modifying the Aerodynamics of Your Road Car

Modifying the Aerodynamics of Your Road Car is a unique handbook that assumes no starting knowledge of vehicle aerodynamics. It begins with simple ideas and finishes with sophisticated and effective aerodynamic modifications that work.

Three major chapters cover on-road testing techniques that give you all the information you need to decide what modifications you should make - and, after you've made them, how well they work. Low-cost techniques allow you to visualize the patterns of airflow over your car so that you can actually see the problem areas that need improvement. Uniquely, you're also shown how to measure aerodynamic pressures, so you can determine which body surfaces are creating lift, drag and downforce. Want to work out where a wing should be placed? On-road testing to find that out is covered as well. The book also shows you how to measure downforce to see if that wing is actually working!

If you wish to reduce drag, more than ten different areas are covered. Reducing frontal area, lowering cooling system drag, optimizing vehicle ride height and rake, reducing the strength of the wake, achieving clean airflow separation and optimizing wheel designs are all covered using the latest research findings. And if you're a performance driver, there's a major chapter devoted to reducing lift and improving stability. This chapter includes the design and development of undertrays and diffusers, wings and spoilers. The example car developed measurable downforce when fitted with an undertray and rear diffuser, something that transformed its on-road handling.

The author has been writing about the aerodynamics of road cars for more than 25 years. He is also an experienced and proficient car modifier who has performed numerous aerodynamic modifications and upgrades to his own cars. The book's technical consultant, RH Barnard, is an acknowledged world leading automotive aerodynamicist.

If you want a practical, hands-on guide that demystifies and explains car aerodynamics, and shows you how to make effective aerodynamic modifications to your car, this book is for you.

Author Julian Edgar has worked as a teacher, writer, editor and photographer. He edited a national Australian automotive print magazine before working at an on-line car magazine for 18 years. He has contributed articles to automotive publications in the UK, the US and Australia. This is his 22nd book. Julian is a hands-on modifier who performs all work on his cars himself in his home workshop. He has been making aerodynamic modifications to his own road cars for more than 25 years. His main automotive interests are suspension, engine management and aerodynamics.

Technical consultant Richard Barnard is a world-renowned aerodynamicist. He started his career as an undergraduate aeronautical engineering apprentice at Handley Page Ltd, and later became Principal Lecturer and Postgraduate Research Tutor at the University of Hertfordshire, and is currently a Visiting Research Fellow. He is also a founder member of the UK Wind Engineering Society, and a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society (FRAeS). He has been a consultant for numerous companies, including Jaguar and Rolls-Royce Bentley. Richard is the author of Road Vehicle Aerodynamics and has written many technical papers.