The Traffic Accident Reconstruction Origin -ARnews-

The physics of a Viper

Ty Brewer ([email protected])
Thu, 21 Jan 1999 14:16:10 -0500 (EST)

I know this is somewhat off the topic, but this group is apparently the resource for this infomration.

I write reviews of games for an online gaming magazine and I serve as the editor for racing/automobile simulations.

I recently reviewed a game, Viper Racing, that claims to be an accurate simulation of the real-world vehicle. As I drove (virtuall), I had a few questions that my basic knowledge of physics couldn't handle. The review is already on-line, but I wanted to better understand why the car handled the way it did.

1) Is it true that a car travelling 60mph takes 4x longer to stop than at 30mph (assuming no skid)? Why?

2) Why is the car more difficult to steer at 120mph than 60mph and 30mph? In this case, I'm referring to over-steer where the rear wheels lose grip in a turn.
I know about the rotational effects of the wheels (making it harder to turn the wheels), but I'm more interested in the friction of the tires. I know, that sounds dumb, but I wanted to know if the relationship was linear or exponential.

3) When a car loses grip at high speeds (without braking), is this a function of the momentum of the car overcoming the friction of the tires or the energy of the car overcoming the friction of the tires?

4) What's the distinction between a car "sliding" and "skidding"? I'm referring to when a car may travel in a direction that it isn't pointing, but not necesarily leaving "skid marks". This would be a subtle effect at high speeds where the car "crawls" to the left or right.

Thanks for the help,

Ty

Ty Brewer
[email protected]

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