Top 10 Everyday Car Technologies that Came from Racing

Top 10 Everyday Car Technologies that Came from Racing

You don't have to go much further than your own garage to have a race car experience. To find out the top 10 racing technologies that might be in your car, keep reading.

10. Transmissions

Most drivers in the United States use automatic transmissions, which makes cruising around town worlds apart from a hard-shifting lap on a Formula One track. But, the purpose of a transmission in a race car and a road car are the same: it translates the engine's power to the car's wheels. While an automatic transmission shifts gears with no input from the driver (other than the initial selection of Drive), a manual transmission lets the driver control the flow of power from the engine to the wheels. Race car drivers want the control of a manual transmission, but the manual process can be too slow and prone to human error.

Enter Direct-Shift Gearboxes (DSG) and clutchless manual transmissions. Both of these types of gearboxes are racing technology that allows drivers to shift gears quickly and make sure that they shift into the correct gear.

An automatic transmission with a manual mode allows the driver to shift gears without a clutch pedal.

9. Time Savers

You shouldn't try to steal someone's Porsche, but if you do, here's a tip: the ignition is on the left side of the steering wheel. It's an odd placement for most people -- just ask all the would-be Porsche buyers who've been embarrassed on test drives -- but it's a nod to Porsche's racing heritage. In racing, every second counts. With a left hand ignition, drivers can start the car and shift into first gear almost simultaneously, allowing them to get going that much faster than the competition.

Several production cars now feature push button ignition.

8. Suspensions

You might not think about your car's suspension (until you go over a particularly deep pothole), but its one area where racing technology has translated almost directly to production cars. In car racing, it's best to have all four tires maintain contact with the track. That makes the car more stable and makes sure that all the power the engine creates is helping to move the car along.

Like most production cars, race cars use independent suspensions. These suspensions allow each wheel to move without affecting the movement of the other wheels. Formula One cars use multi-link suspensions, while NASCAR cars tend to use MacPherson struts. Both suspension types are available on a number of production cars.

Rally Car racing pushes suspension components to the limit.

7. Tires

Most drivers don't think about their tires until they get a flat. That's a shame, because tires are what connect the car to the road and keep the driver in control. Car racing teams understand that. That's why they use high performance tires tailored to their particular form of racing. Technology from those specialized tires has trickled down to production cars.

These racing slicks will last only a few laps, but as a result of lessons learned on the track, your tires should survive much longer.

6. Brakes

Unless you've been in a cheesy action movie, the brakes on your car are likely drama-free. Race car brakes are built with the same drama-free goal, but when stopping a car going more than 200 miles an hour, the stakes are much higher. Racing engineers have designed brakes that provide sure stops under extreme circumstances and those designs have made their way onto road cars.

Disc brakes started appearing on race cars in the 1950s. Racing teams liked them because they were powerful and easier to maintain than the prior drum brake design. Disc brakes are also easier to keep cool. When brakes stop a car, they generate a lot of friction and heat. That heat actually reduces the stopping power of the brakes. Disc brakes can be vented, which allows the heat to dissipate. Now, all but a few cars have disc brakes on at least their front wheels -- most have disc brakes on all four corners.

Disc brakes first appeared on race cars in the 1950s -- now they're standard equipment on most vehicles.

5. Engine Air Intake

Car racing is full of breathless excitement -- but not for the engines. Car engines need to breathe freely and easily for best performance, just like you do when you're exercising. Since car engines create power through combustion, getting enough air is vital. They won't work without it. The more air that gets into an engine, the better it will breathe. Also, engines give their best performance when the air they receive is cold. The cold air thickens the air/fuel mixture the engine burns, which allows the engine to get more energy out of it. Enhancements like superchargers and ram air intakes are designed just for that purpose.

Hood scoops serve a purpose -- to cool the engine compartment and improve performance.

4. Dual Overhead Camshafts

The last time you went car shopping, you probably had a salesperson tell you the car you're considering had a Dual Overhead Cam engine, or you saw "DOHC" in a car's brochure. But what does that really mean?

The 2004 Lincoln LS V8 engine is a Dual Overhead Cam (DOHC) design.

To get the real specifics, you should read How Car Engines Work. But, in short, engines have valves that open and close to let air in and exhaust out. A camshaft, or cam, opens and closes the vales. If you have two cams on your engine, or dual cams, the valves can be open and shut more rapidly, allowing for better performance. This type of engine design first appeared on race cars in the early 1900s, and is still one of the most popular engine designs today, appearing in lots of production cars.

3. Exterior Design

You may have guessed from the number 5 item on our list that exterior components on cars, like hood scoops, often have performance purposes. That goes double for race cars. Whether in NASCAR, Formula One or drag racing, everything on the outside of a race car serves a purpose, and that purpose isn't to look good.

Spoilers look good on production cars like the one on this Porsche 911 GT3, and they're functional too.

2. New Materials

One of the reasons race cars are able to post such blistering track times is because they are so light. Of course, it's easy for a race team build a lightweight car when it doesn't need to haul more than one person or even have a full interior. But race car designers have utilized lightweight materials to help make their cars fast. Of course, it's not enough for the materials to be lightweight -- otherwise, race cars would all be made of paper. Race cars operate under extreme stress, so every material in them needs to be strong.

Carbon fiber was primarily used for race cars, but recently it's beginning to appear on production vehicles.

1. Safety

Car racing is all about blistering speed, gutsy driving, unlimited power, and -- the most advanced safety equipment in the world? It's true. Because car racing demands extreme performance, it also demands extreme safety. Luckily, for those of us who aren't race car drivers, that safety technology is also deeply ingrained into our everyday cars. In fact, it's so closely tied together that you might not even associate it with car racing at all.

The safety cage in your production car is hidden beneath interior comfort features that race cars simply don't have.

[howstuffworks]