The Technical Brilliance of the Nissan DeltaWing Race Car
A brilliant rethink and rework of what a race car can be. Listen to what this car is doing with only 320hp and its performance envelope. It's nearly keeping pace with the P1 cars which have 2x the horsepower.
Every 10-15 years we see interesting engineering expressions and slight but no less significant concepts brought from theory to practice. In my life time cars such the Tyrell P34, Brahbam BT46B, Williams FW12B, Audi R10 stand out. But I have yet to see such a radical rewrite. When it wasn't selected to be the new Indy chassis two-years ago I felt indifferent; now that I better understand its engineering, the thought process and benefits, I am disappointed this wasn't selected as the spec car.
As for the designer, what John Britten was to the motorcycle racing world, this guy may very well be to the car racing world.
Take note of the lack of a rear wing, front splitter, Gurney flap, lips, side aero appendages, vertical vanes, and shapers!
I want to see an update with a look under the car to view how the designer is managing the underbody aero ground effect and Coanda dynamics, as this is clearly where the magic is happening.
Somehow with it manages to balance downforce and and grip with a lack of all these over body aides. Black magic? Voodoo? Virgin Sacrifice? One of these had to employed.
