Does having your car windows and sunroof open slow down your cars acceleration???

Question

Hi, I just bought a Infiniti g37s 6speed manual and I was racing with my windows down and sunroof open. I was racing an eclipse 0-110mph and it was keeping up pretty good. I was very surprised because it has a lot less hp than my car but all its windows were up. My car also felt slower than usual especially when I was going 80mph plus?

I was also wondering if anyone knows why it says "slip" sometimes while im going through the gears fast?

Thanks

Answer 1

To simply answer the question, yes, having your windows/sunroof open reduces your vehicles overall speed due to drag that's not factored into wind tunnel testing when it's designed.

If your vehicle is detecting a slip condition, your shifting too high or low, causing clutch slip as opposed to a solid engagement.  This occurs in any vehicle with a clutch; you need to shift precisely.  Margin of error on a shift point is not a few hundred RPM's, it's less than 100.

Answer 2

With a manual tranny, much more depends on the driver's ability to shift correctly to get the best acceleration.

You say you JUST bought it.  It may take a little while for you to get used to it and know where are the best shift point and best methods.  Do you know how to SLIP the clutch to get the max acceleration?

Don't forget that it is NOT about just HP number.  The major factor is the POWER to WEIGHT ratio.  In another words, light weight with some power can accelerate faster than pig with lots of power.

One other thing people DON'T understand is the power curve.  The WIDER the curve the better the car will accelerate (given the same HP).

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As for SLIP, that almost sounds like the car is telling you the clutch slipped. But I'm guessing.

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The window - open window will slow it down but by only a little.

Good Luck...

Answer 3

Having your windows down and sunroof open is a lot worse than even having your AC on. It creates a huge amount of drag since air fills up inside the car and pushes it in the opposite direction the car is pushing. This reduces gas mileage, and decreases acceleration, and its not just a small effect either.

Don't race your G37 though, especially not on a road against an eclipse at 110mph, you don't want to mess that car up, or worse get a ticket for exceeding 100mph, cause then you wont have a license to be driving that nice car and you'll still be stuck with the payments!

Answer 4

i would be more worried about whether the cops visit Yahoo than if having the windows down slows your car down. After all you have just admitted to drag racing.