Trending · Flying Roadster Part 4: How can a car drive upside down? The fan-car trick
Fans suck air from a sealed area under the car; the outside air pushes it down, even at zero speed (Tesla: about 4,700 kg).
How can a car drive UPSIDE DOWN? 🙃🚗
1️⃣ SUCK THE AIR OUT: fans under the floor pull the air out from under the car. Now the air pressure under it is low.
2️⃣ THE AIR PUSHES: the normal air all around pushes the car onto the road — or onto a ceiling! And because it's fans, not wings, it works even standing still.
3️⃣ HOW STRONG: Tesla says about 4,700 kg (≈ 10,400 lb) of push. A race car tried this in 1978 — the Brabham "fan car" won its only race, then was withdrawn.
Suck the air, stick on!
Read the voiceover (transcript)
- How can a car drive upside down?
- Fans under the floor suck the air out. Now the air pressure under the car is low!
- The air outside pushes the car onto the road, or a ceiling. It works even standing still!
- Tesla says that's about four thousand seven hundred kilos of push. A race car tried it in nineteen seventy-eight!
- Suck the air, stick on!
- Next: is it a real flying car? Follow for part five!
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