Viper Alley - Dodge Viper Forum - View Single Post - High altitude, high speed, air density and its effect on drag

Joel · November 11th, 2004, 04:47 AM

I'm curious to know what the correlation is with high altitude, lower density and decreased drag. Has anyone done a study and backed it up with figures.
Using myself as the engine, I did once cycle at ( not to! )the north rim of the Grand Canyon. Although I ran out of puff very easily ( I believe the altitude is about 8500feet) I did seem to be able to push the bike along with less effort required.
So although the engines power output suffers, is there a significant reduction in drag which offsets it ?

November 11th, 2004, 04:47 AM	#1
Joel Enthusiast Joel is offline Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: UK Posts: 86 Rep Power: 0	High altitude, high speed, air density and its effect on drag I'm curious to know what the correlation is with high altitude, lower density and decreased drag. Has anyone done a study and backed it up with figures. Using myself as the engine, I did once cycle at ( not to! )the north rim of the Grand Canyon. Although I ran out of puff very easily ( I believe the altitude is about 8500feet) I did seem to be able to push the bike along with less effort required. So although the engines power output suffers, is there a significant reduction in drag which offsets it ?