AoA , thought this might be interesting,
here is the first assignment question from Beng.Bsc Automotive/Automotive motorsports ( 1st year UK ) regarding car performance. Have a go at it and if your sucessful you will come across some interesting facts ..
A rear wheel drive car of mass 2200.0kg has a rolling resistance of 150 N, a frontal area of 1.8m2, a drag coefficient of 0.80, a transmission loss of 11.0% and a maximum engine power of 60.0kW. Assuming that the traction limit for each tyre is equal to the weight that it carries (i.e. the tyre traction coefficient =1) and that 60% of the vehicle weight is on the rear wheels during acceleration,
a) What is the maximum power available at the back wheels?
b) What is its theoretical maximum speed in mph on a level road?
c) What is its theoretical maximum speed in mph up a 1 in 4.0 hill?
d) What is the maximum tractive force that each of the rear tyres could provide under acceleration before slipping occurs?
e) What would be the maximum, useable, tractive force at each of the rear tyres if full power was applied at 20 mph? (hint: is this limited by tyre grip or by engine power?)
f) What would be the wind resistance at 20 mph?
g) What would be the acceleration (in mph/s) at 20 mph on the level?
h) What would be the acceleration (in mph/s) at 20 mph up a 1 in 4.0 hill?
Take the density of air to be 1.2 Kg/m3 and g=9.8 m/s2