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A racing test tunnel no one wants to talk about
- whoopdedo 12y agoThe author is overly self-congratulatory I think. An article three years ago (Even though the byline date is more recent. A database update that didn't preserve timestamps? Or sneaky SEO to make it appear more relevant?) says much the same thing with more details about how the testing is done. http://www.racecar-engineering.com/articles/nascar/the-secrets-of-laurel-hill/ http://www.racecar-engineering.com/articles/nascar/the-secre...
- mwg66 12y agoThe article was put online in 2014 but had previously appeared in print. Indeed, this article offers nothing new about the tunnel.
- forgottenpass 12y agoThe author is overly self-congratulatory I think Considering the breadcrumbs that the author admitted to finding online, I'm realizing that the state of investigative reporting is much worse off than I previously assumed.
- Gracana 12y agoThe author specifically mentions that article.
- Neitanod 12y agotl;dr anyone?
- Jgrubb 12y agoOld abandoned tunnels are cool. Racing dude bought one in PA to test his cars in a controlled environment since scale models in a test tunnel don't behave the same way as real cars driving fast. Was a big open secret, apparently recently banned by NASCAR and Indy for no good reason. Also, tunnels are cool.
- gpvos 12y agoAlso, the author doesn't actually get to see the inside of the tunnel despite building up a lot of expectation in the article.
- ericcumbee 12y agoIt's called a run down test. You accelerate to a certain speed, and then coast and the way the car slows down is where you get the data from. It's not a new idea. Teams including Audi's Le Mans squad use it. Teams have rented the Shuttle landing facility at Cape Canaveral to do the same thing. The advantage of the Tunnel is there are less variables to contend with such as things like wind.
- mwg66 12y agoIt is also common place in F1, particularly during winter testing and occasionally FP1.
- Gracana 12y agoThat's not the only thing they were doing. The article also mentions braking tests, and pulling all kinds of telemetry. These things aren't new, but being able to do all these tests and measurements on a full-sized car in a controlled environment is rather unique.
- nickfuzzbuster 12y agoSounds like you've found a little fast&furious nook there. Not so many of these places now - a racer's haven...