A new methodology to optimize a race car for inertial sports

In sports competitions with wheeled vehicles, the resistances to movement that most affect vehicle performance are aerodynamic drag, rolling resistance, inertial forces and gravitational forces. When a powerful engine is available, the rolling resistance is negligible but, in competitions where the vehicle has a low-power engine or lack of it, the rolling resistance has a significant influence on the vehicle performance. The resistance to advance in curve due to the steer angle (curve resistance) is not taken into account during the design process. However, as noted in other research for this type of vehicle, the curve resistance cannot be neglected. Therefore, this article develops a methodology to optimize the vehicle cornering behavior of non-motored vehicles intended for inertial sports, which can be applied to any type of wheeled vehicle. The target of the vehicle optimization is to maximize its cornering speed, while its resistance to movement is reduced. As will be shown, both factors are related and opposed to each other