Cars can be driven around walls, according to research.
Speedway hero Jeff Gordon tackles the banking in his Chevy Impala Image: Daredevil |
Speedway cars can travel fastest when taking the steepest bends with banks of nearly 90 degrees.
Students at UK's Leicester University have calculated that, at a speed of over 150 miles per hour, racing cars could theoretically stick to the walls of a speedway track with a 90 degree bank angle.
However, would-be racers with ordinary road cars will be disappointed: the feat could only be achieved with a fully aerodynamic race car because there has to be sufficient downforce (i.e. force greater than the effect of gravity) to stop the car falling off the wall.
Circular track
The track must be circular to ensure that the inward force of the object is constant, known as centripetal force, similar to fairground 'wall-of-death' motorcycle riders who first performed in the early 1900s.
The MPhys physics students have compared an open wheeled Penske-Reynard-Honda racing car and an Audi TT road car to find out how different shapes and characteristics would affect their gravity-defying capabilities.