All about cars

Lots of people like cars, especially race cars. Some people would know what the fastest race car is but have you heard of the Thrust SSC or how car engines work. If you want to find out more about this and much, much more, stay tuned.

How does a car engine work?

A  car engine is made of a fixed cylinder and a moving piston. Gases are created in the cylinder and the gases push the piston, which rotates the crankshaft. After the piston compresses the fuel-air mixture, a spark ignites it, causing combustion. The expansion of the combustion gases pushes the piston during the power stroke. This process happens again. If you don’t understand this, here's a diagram.

How do car batteries work?

In most car batteries you have six cells, and therefore a 12-volt battery. There are a few plates plates. These plates are covered in sulphuric acid and this triggers a reaction between the two plates. ... The result is a chemical reaction that produces electrons. The electrons race around the plates and generate electricity. So the electricity keeps the car running.

Types of cars-

Drift cars:

If you’ve watched car racing then you’ve seen it. Drifting is a driving style in which the driver uses throttle, brakes, clutch, gear shifting and steering input to keep the car in a condition of oversteer. It allows them to safely lose control of the car, and then regain control. Drift cars specialise in this.

Alpha Grand Prix and F1:

A Formula One car is a single-seat, open-cockpit, open-wheel formula racing car with some front and rear wings, and an engine positioned behind the driver, which is meant to be used in competition at Formula One racing events.

Valtteri Bottas currently holds the record for the highest speed in an F1 race, hitting 372.5km/h (231.4mph) in the 2016 Mexican Grand Prix. While this is certainly fast, F1 cars aren't quite the fastest single-seaters – that award goes to IndyCar.

Auto racing: 

Auto racing is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of lots of different sorts were organised, with the first recorded as early as 1867.

Hypercars:

A supercar – also called exotic car – is a street-legal, high-performance luxury sports car. Since the 2000s or 2010s, the term hypercar has come into use for the highest performing supercars.

Pro touring cars:

The Pro Touring class has several things that make it unique: The extreme power, handling, and overall performance are of course big ones, but the most important one is that this type of car is still street-legal. Above all else, the most important thing about a Pro Touring vehicle is the fact that it can be used on normal roads.

Drag cars:

Drag racing is a type of motor racing in which automobiles or motorcycles compete, usually two at a time, to be first to cross a set finish line. Top Fuel dragsters are the quickest accelerating racing cars in the world and the fastest sanctioned category of drag racing, with the fastest competitors reaching speeds of 335 miles per hour (539 km/h) and finishing the 1,000 foot (305 m) runs in 3.62 seconds.

There are a lot of good cars for a lower price but some of the best are…

• Volvo 740

• Porsche 944

• Subaru Impreza 2.5RS
• Mazda RX-7

Fastest race cars: 

Some of the fastest cars are…

• Bugatti Bolide (310 mph)
• Koenigsegg Jesko Absolut (330 mph)
• SSC Tuatara (331 mph)
• Devel Sixteen (347 mph)

• Thrust SSC (1227 kph)

Most expensive race cars:

• Koenigsegg CCXR Trevita (4.8 million dollars)

• Rolls-Royce Sweptail (13 million dollars)

• Bugatti La Voiture Noire (18 million dollars)

• Ferrari 250 Gran Turismo Omologato ($70,000,000).

Fun facts:

• Race cars can drive upside down!

• A F1 car pit stop can take less than 3 seconds

• The most raced race car has been on 50 podiums

• The first race was in 1867

• Some F1 cars can go from 0 - 100 kilometres per hour and back down to 0 in less than 4 seconds

Technical section-

What makes a race car fast?

Racing cars are designed to go fast, and any vehicle travelling at high speeds must be able to both reduce air resistance and generate downforce in order to stay stable on the road. ... Every car is covered in a variety of wings, splitters and diffusers, which direct air over and around the car in a controlled manner. Some ways that race cars are fast include using inverting wings, aerodynamics and more powerful engines.

Aerodynamics -

The purpose of aerodynamics is to generate downforce. Downforce is the opposite of lift. Downforce, ( as the name suggests ) pushes the car harder into the ground. When the downforce level is high the grip goes up as well. With more grip race cars can turn corners at higher speeds and this keeps the car speeds high in a race as well as results in better times. The best parts of a car to make aerodynamics on are vanes, fins and tires.

Weight reduction -

The more weight you get rid of the less force is required to make the car accelerate and decelerate. Also this will help the car with tight corners and speed. If you get rid of roughly a 100 pounds it will remove a second from the car's quarter mile time.

Spoilers -

A spoiler helps by pushing air up and the car down. This is good because without a spoiler air flows under the car and creates lift that reduces grip and speed. The faster the car goes the more effective the spoiler becomes. This increases the downforce which in turn helps the car more, Another effect is drag. Drag is the natural reaction of air to resist the car’s motion through it. However, it’s proven that they increase speed.

Influential and popular cars -

1967 Ford Mustang

1965 Ford Mustang. It's the car that started a movement. The Mustang was small and light but featured a powerful engine. The 1967 Mustang really stood out for many reasons, with extreme performance, good looks, and relative affordability. The latter doesn't apply anymore, but the car is still a classic.

1961 Jaguar E - type

The Jaguar E - type was famously a beautiful car with sleek curves and svelte lines on its body. It has been called the most beautiful car made. Along with this it was blazingly fast reaching over 400 kilometres. It was and still is an incredibly expensive car but it costs a fraction of the price of other exotic cars.

1964 Aston Martin DB5

This car was famously used in many James Bond movies and was much smaller than most cars. The Aston Martin DB5 is worth 1.3 million dollars as of March 2023. This price is very high for Aston Martins considering that you can get one for under $200,000. Today only 305 of these units are in circulation.

1938 Volkswagen Beetle

The Volkswagen Beetle was one of the most well received cars ever made. It had a giant production era from 1938 all the way to 2003. You can still see this car on the road since it's very reliable, looks good, drives well and is cheap. It has a max speed of 161 to 225 kilometres per hour and its acceleration is 6.7 to 14.6 seconds to reach 100 kilometres per hour.

Porsche 911

It's been around since 1963 and has undergone continuous improvement ever since, with each new generation becoming more and more refined. Even today, the Porsche 911 is still considered one of the best sports cars money can buy. It's fast, agile, and stylish, with a level of build quality that is second to none. It has acceleration of 2.7 to 4.5 seconds to get to 100 kilometres per hour. Its MSRP is $259,000, its top speed can reach over 300 kilometres per hour.