The maximum speed of a car in a headwind of 15 m s^-1 is slightly higher than its maximum speed in still air.why is this?I cam across it in an Engineering book and dont understand.Would it be because the wind creates lift which then makes the car lighter and able to go slightly faster?
im a fellow engineering student. Possibly lift, but I doubt it cause most car aerodynamics produce heavier 'down' forces to keep the friction high. My guess would be that you read it wrong, or the book is saying something else.
If this was a chapter on aerodynamics, it might be they were trying to say that the airspeed (to be plugged into a formula) would be higher when the car was at top speed and there is a headwind. I think that would be true even tho the car's groundspeed would be less than with still air. Other than that, I think it sounds like nonsense.
