I think that I agree with most of what 1FATGMC has said, build the basic body as small and slippery as possible, run small and narrow tires and streamline every thing between the body and the wheels. I also am working on a small displacement lakester, probably an "I" class car, but I have a street rod to finish first so am probably several years away. I am not sure that I agree with Stainless1 that the Cd for Bonneville style tires is as high as 1.2, where did you get that info from? I am planning to run top fuel fronts, about 22 in. OD and make non rotating wheel covers both on the inside and outside. I am planning to make my shape a NACA 6600 series semetrical aerofoil shape in plan view, low Cd, long area of attached flow good pressure gradient. I am also thinking about running a flat bottom, like Costallas cars and very low to the ground, less than one inch, but I don't find alot of info regarding how this affects the Cd. Anyone got some input on this?? I have seen alot on running aero shaps close to the ground, which generally shows that to little ground clearance increases drag, but nothing on flat planes.
I remember reading where some F1 engineer said that the modern F1 chassis is just a "bracket" to carry all of the aero stuff! When you see that these teams are running their wind tunnels 24/7 it just makes you wish you had a couple of hours in one!
A comment about the GM lakester also, they actually built two. GM built the first one with the billet wheels with the rubber bands around them and it was just for show. So Cal Speedshop built the "race" model and it ran some big Dunlop 18s in the rear and 16s in the front. I personally think they were (are) to big but So Cal has got the GM money not me!
Note to 1FATGMC, thanks for running the picture of Seth's lakester, I have looked at that car a million times and never remember that it ran so much caster! Something to remember. It really does hurt to think about it though, what a great car!
Rex