Originally Posted by Hurricane
Actually you won't be forcing any more air in than if the car was standing still. My background is in aviation and in order for ram air to be effective, you'll need to reach speeds well above 100 mph. Even then the ram air effect is negligble. There's very little increase in static pressure at low speeds. Therefore you won't see any 1/4 mile difference between your setup and a vehicle without ram air. Maybe if you're racing 1/2 mile distances 150 mph+ will you notice any difference.
Im no airplane expert, but at our dz the pilots always take off into the wind if possible, they say its better for the turbo engines(although i imagine it helps with lift as well).
All current 7 and 9 cell canopies are ram air design(vs the old school round parachutes). They fly about 25-30mph, unless swooping...then its 70+mph.
Also the pilot chute that is responsible for removing the canopy from the container is filled with air at 120mph, the average fall rate at time of deployment.
Im not sure if this is comparing apples to oranges but thought id share on what the power of forced air can do.