NASCAR stability 1971 Road Runner vs 1970 Superbird?

[SteveSS]

So I was rereading an article about 1971 Road Runners from Hemmings Muscle Machines, October 2019 and it said, "The car's swoopy new shape allowed it to remain stable on superspeedways without the need for the Superbird's towering wing, and tacked-on nose."

I find that a little hard to believe. It seems like the wing alone would act as a rudder making it much more stable. I know Petty won a ton of races with the '71 bird, but really?

 

[slimt]

I think the 71 has a more rounded side than a 70 . Less drag.

 

[chargervert]

Even the 3/8 scale wind tunnel tests of the third generation Chargers and Road Runners, with the wing nosecones,and rear window plugs yielded slower results than the 69/70 wingcars. The 69 Daytona was said to be 3 mph faster after calculating the wind tunnel data. The 71 wingcars were in development when Nascar pulled the plug on Aero cars, and the existing Aero cars were limited to 305 cubic inch engines for the 71 season. If not for a crash, a 69 Daytona nearly won a 71 super speedway race with a 305 cubic inch engine,thats how superior the 69/70 Aero cars were. So with Aero cars pretty much eliminated from competition in 71,the new third generation B bodies were better than the second generation B bodies without the aero package, but not with the aero package.

 

[Aeronet]

There is a lot of good info on AeroWarriors. They called the '71s G series. From 3/8 scale testing the engineers concluded the G series weren't as good as the E series. I'm not sure if the E series only meant the '69 Charger 500 or included the '68-'70 Chargers and Road Runners. I was shocked to find that the '68 Coronet is aerodynamically better than a '73 Charger.
Lots of engineering papers on aero tests for NASCAR on that site.

 

[chargervert]

The F series talked about in the G series engineering report, were the 69 Charger Daytona, and the 70 Road Runner Superbird.

 

[Aeronet]

Here are some things I wrote down from AeroWarriors:
'68 Coronet CdA 9.7 level
9.06 3" nose down
'71 Charger CdA 11.2
Also, the 71 Road Runner was 8% better than the '71 Charger because the Charger has a gap between the hood and bumper and the Road Runner doesn't.

 

[Aeronet]

The F series was the Daytona/Superbird.

 

[chargervert]

You are correct.the 69 Charger 500 is F series also.

 

[chargervert]

Here are some things I wrote down from AeroWarriors:
'68 Coronet CdA 9.7 level
9.06 3" nose down
'71 Charger CdA 11.2
Also, the 71 Road Runner was 8% better than the '71 Charger because the Charger has a gap between the hood and bumper and the Road Runner doesn't.

Paul Goldsmith ran a 69 Superbee in Nascar if I remember correctly.

 

[Aeronet]

To answer the OP's question: I have driven a '73 Charger at extra-legal speeds and it remained just as stable at *** mph as it did at 65mph and it isn't affected by head winds or cross winds, so, yes it is a very stable vehicle. The '69 Coronet is a bit different, but the Charger has a much stiffer suspension with front and rear sway bars vs the Coronet's soft springs and lack of sway bars.

 

[Aeronet]

Yes, he came in right behind Petty and his '69 Talledega.
More from AeroWarriors:
Horsepower needed to go 180mph
'68 Coronet 345 3" nose down
'68 Charger 334 3" nose down
'67 Coronet CdA of 10.13 386 hp 3" nose down

 

[Budnicks]

according to Richard Petty
the winged cars (Superbird in his case, others with the Daytona said much the same)
were almost impossible to spin out, rear uprights acted like a rudder

& allegedly it took like 50-60 less hp, to run them at 190 mph too
back then they were the only ones to run 200+, without a tow/draft
so aero (less drag coefficient) must have been better

I trust what a 'real' NASCAR legends says

 

[Aeronet]

I think the Daytonas/Superbirds are works of art.
Sounds like the Hemmings article just claimed the '71 Road Runners were stable at racing speeds, but not better, or faster (they certainly aren't).
I did read that the '72 Olympia Charger they took to Le Mans in '76(?) was able to reach 215 mph on the long strait that used to be there. Don't know if it's true.

 

[super-bee_ski]

 

[33 IMP]

I think the Daytonas/Superbirds are works of art.
Sounds like the Hemmings article just claimed the '71 Road Runners were stable at racing speeds, but not better, or faster (they certainly aren't).
I did read that the '72 Olympia Charger they took to Le Mans in '76(?) was able to reach 215 mph on the long strait that used to be there. Don't know if it's true.

It wouldn't surprise me. The mulsanne straight was 3.7 miles. Geared properly, i would think a nascar car with the aero sorted out could do at least that. That straight now has two chicanes in it and the cars still reach 200 in several sections.

 

[Aeronet]

I was wrong about Goldsmith. It was an English driver that drove the Super Bee. Forget his name. He placed somewhere next to Petty. I want to say eighth, but I could be wrong.

 

[Aeronet]

Unfortunately, I kinda like those Ford Talladegas and Mercury Spoilers. There's a video of David Pearson showing his '69 Talladega. The kicker for me is the cigarette lighter he had them install so he could light his cigs while he raced.

 

[super-bee_ski]

Unfortunately, I kinda like those Ford Talladegas and Mercury Spoilers. There's a video of David Pearson showing his '69 Talladega. The kicker for me is the cigarette lighter he had them install so he could light his cigs while he raced.

Yup, me too!
Love this cars!

 

[Aeronet]

Those Fords and Mercs were damned functional and without 'em there never would have been Daytonas or Superbirds. They looked a little bit like Charger 500s, another car I really like.

 

[33 IMP]

I like the charger 500 better than the superbird/daytonas. (Not that i would throw one out of my garage).
I had a friend who had, and restored, a maroon Talledega. Strange car, one of 280-odd maroon cars (three color choices ,white maroon or blue). 428 cj only, bench seat only, column shift c6 only, open 3.25 9" only, no other choice. Worth about half of a wing car, maybe.