Top Speed
Thin Air: How Altitude and Heat Move Top Speed
Altitude does two things at once and they nearly cancel. Thin air reduces aerodynamic drag, which raises top speed, and it reduces the...
Section 02
Top Speed
Drag, gearing, tyres and rules. What it takes to add the next 10 km/h.
Top Speed
Downforce vs Top Speed: The Trade Every Wing Makes
Downforce and low drag are in direct conflict, because vertical load is produced by deflecting air downward and every deflection costs...
Top Speed
The Drag Equation: Why Top Speed Needs Power Cubed
Aerodynamic drag force grows with the square of speed, and because power is force multiplied by velocity, the power needed to overcome it...
Top Speed
Why So Many Cars Stop at 250 km/h
The 250 km/h, 155 mph ceiling on so many German cars is neither a regulation nor a mechanical limit. It is an informal agreement adopted by...
Top Speed
Cd vs CdA: The Drag Number Brochures Get Wrong
The drag coefficient is a shape efficiency figure, not a drag figure. What appears in the physics is C d A, the coefficient multiplied by...
Top Speed
Gearing Limited vs Drag Limited: Two Ways to Run Out
There are two entirely different ways for a car to stop accelerating. Drag limited means the engine can no longer supply the power that...
Top Speed
The 300 mph Barrier: What Actually Stands in the Way
The step from 250 mph to 300 mph is a 20 per cent speed increase that demands 73 per cent more power, because drag power scales with the...
Top Speed
Where Top Speed Runs Actually Happen
A maximum speed run needs three things that almost no road has: enough distance to reach the speed, a measured section at the top of it,...
Top Speed
The Two Way Average: The Rule That Makes a Record Real
A top speed record is the average of two runs in opposite directions, because a single pass measures the wind and the road gradient as much...
Top Speed
Tyre Speed Ratings: The Real Ceiling on Top Speed
The letter at the end of a tyre size is a certified maximum sustained speed at the tyre's rated load. H is 210 km/h, V is 240, W is 270 and...