Although I have a heavy box-shaped car, I was thinking about the Mercedes G63 specifically. That is a powerful engine on a non-aerodynamic car, what happens if you take it over 100mph and get hit by a gust of 60mph wind? My car gets literally pushed around lanes during heavy winds at highway speeds, has anyone ever even gotten a G63 past 150mph?
In: Physics
It’s because the force of wind is roughly proportional to V^2. (note below)
When your car is going 0 km/h with a 50 km/h wind, the force is ~2,500. (50×50)
Driving at 100 km/h, the wind force from moving is ~10,000. (100×100)
Driving into a head wind of 50 km/h at 100 km/h, the force is now ~22,500. (150×150)
A tail wind of 50 km/h while driving at 100 km/h produces a force of ~2,500 (50×50). Notice that this is the same as the standing-still force. However, it’s a difference of ~7,500 from the driving-at-100 force
Thus, you’ll feel changes in wind much more when moving faster, no matter which direction the wind is blowing relative to your movement.
note: We don’t have a good formula for air friction and it’s kinda non-linear. Some formulas use V^2; some use V^3 or something in between. The formulas are *very rough* approximations, so we use complicated simulations which are *also* rough approximations.
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