More car/air

Another car and air problem is reducing aerodynamic drag . Now, even non-racing cars are generally designed to be aerodynamic, because reducing wind resistance can improve efficiency. In higher-performance cars, much work is done to reduce drag and lower weight (to reduce rolling resistance). An very clever solution to "front-on" drag, induced by the large tires of F1 cars, was used in the Tyrrell P34 F1 car, introdused in 1976 . Instead of the two regular large front tires, the decision to use *four* smaller front tires was made. Thus, the same total road surface area would still be in contact with the front tires, but it would be split 4 ways rather than 2. The benefit of this was the much lower height of the smaller tires . The design was not trouble free, and many drivers did not care for the handling characteristics. The P34's radical design was no longer used by the Tyrrell team after the 1977 season. It was not the first, or last of the six-wheeled F1 cars , however.

Anyhow, here are some great pics of the P34.