Knowledge You Can Build On — Est. 1998
Thursday trivia
I am going to be just a little bit cryptic so that this is not totally trivial to answer. Will give hint later if it turns out to be too much so ;-)
Here is the question:
A certain type of racecar has at least some content that is made of wood, and it is both required and very important. What is it?
Re: Steering wheel?
Soap Box Derby Car ???
Re: Thursday trivia
Indy cars wouldn't go far without it.
Re: Thursday trivia
Boy Scouts will mourn when the pine wilt disease kills all of the trees.
Not Boy scouts or Indy cars
Although Indy cars may have one, but I don't know. It is a different type than that I am thinking of.
hint
These are elite and very fast. The wood has to do with one of the rules.
Re: another hint
The cars are F1's and the wooden part is to insure rule compliance.
Re: another hint
Could these cars be on the small scale to what most folks are trying to figure out?
full sized cars.
Answer
Formula 1 race cars have a piece of wood (albeit a slightly specialized type of wood) secured to the bottom of the car. At speed, the ground effect of the vehicle loads the suspension and lowers the ride height of the car. There are rules as to the minimum ground clearance allowed, so the piece of wood is set such that it wears if it hits the ground. By measuring the thickness of the piece of wood after a race, it can be determined if the car was too low at any time. Low tech solution to a high tech problem.
