F1technical.net

The point is, i think that in general there are sometimes big differences between certain LMP cars and others.

If you look http://www.mulsannescorner.com/aerodata ... s102i.html, for example, or http://www.mulsannescorner.com/aerodata ... cLMP2.html, you can already have a feeling about this.

I know this is a comparison between an LMP1 and an LMP2, but still the difference is huge and i know in other cases there is not such a big difference between certain LMPs1 and certain LMP2s. Anyway, basing on some other info i found, i guess that i was initially wrong and that LMP cars can have, at least potentially, more downforce than F1 cars.

I recognize this question might be too complex to simplify, but is there a general 'rule-of-thumb' regarding the -lift/drag for a given size diffuser versus front wing? I understand that the diffuser will have better -l/d but I'm just curious by what magnitude?

I don't have the book on hand but Peter Wright's analysis on the Ferrari F1-2000 had a breakdown of the lift and drag contributions of all the major aero elements. The diffuser L/D ratio was significantly better than all of the other elements and was responsible for about a third of the total downforce if I remember correctly.

The german wikipedia article on downforce ( http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anpressdruck ) has the table for the F1 2000. I added the l/d ratio for the main downforce producing parts and the total car.