Tesla Roadster is not the first car to use fans for downforce
After Tesla showed its next-generation Roadster with a fan system that lets it hold on upside down, Engadget recalls earlier examples: the Chaparral 2J, Brabham BT46 and McMurtry Spéirling.
US electric carmaker Tesla has demonstrated its long-awaited next-generation Roadster sports car, using a fan system that generates downforce, the force pressing a car into the ground. It is not the first vehicle to use such technology: historic racing cars and modern manufacturers have done similar things before.
Tesla's demonstration
During the show, the Roadster drove up a C-shaped ramp and stopped on the section perpendicular to the ground, so it appeared to hang upside down. It then jumped off the ramp, flipped upright and landed safely. Tesla explains that a multi-mode fan and ground sealing system pulls air from under the car and creates suction that holds it at any speed. Together with a retractable rear wing, the system can produce up to 2 g of downforce.
Earlier examples
British company McMurtry Automotive answered Tesla's reveal on Instagram with a video of its electric Spéirling hanging upside down from a platform. Its Downforce-on-Demand technology uses two fans. The company says the Spéirling can corner at more than 3 g. Only 100 will be built, priced from $132,300, with first deliveries expected before the end of this year.
An older example is the Chaparral 2J, which American drivers Jim Hall and Hap Sharp entered in the Can-Am Championship in 1970. The car, powered by a modified 7.6-litre Chevrolet V8, used two fans adapted from a military tank engine and a transparent polycarbonate skirt that formed an enclosed area under the car. This produced 1.25 g to 1.5 g of suction.
In Formula 1, Brabham's BT46 of 1978, designed by Gordon Murray, had a single large rear fan. The team claimed it was mainly for cooling. The faster the car went, the stronger the suction. The BT46 raced only once, at the 1978 Swedish Grand Prix, and won.
Prices and timeline
Elon Musk has said the Roadster will enter production in 2028. Reserving the base version costs $50,000, while the "Thrust" trim, with the suction system and acceleration thrusters, costs $250,000 to reserve.
