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Originally Posted by mattcat
It's not just Pugeot that I am referring to. The Charouz Lola Aston and the Dome S102 outpaced the open cars right out of the gate. I am no aerodynamicist, but I would be highly inclined to believe that there is a big advantage in downforce created by the windscreen and top of a closed top car. Likewise, I would be inclined to believe that the design is inherently better in a straight line. Anyone with an advanced knowledge of aerodynamics feel free to correct me if I am wrong.
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John Horsman puts it quite nicely in layman's terms in
Racing in the Rain - here he points out that drag is a factor of frontal area (larger in a coupe) multiplied by aerodynamic efficiency (greater in a coupe) - so a coupe body should be very effective on a long straight such as the run to Mulsanne, however the comparative downforce figures for the coupe and open top Mirage M6s showed the open car to be considerably more effective in being pushed onto the track. It's all on p.300 if you're interested.
Now I appreciate these are lessons from 30 years ago, and I'm sure things have moved on considerably (I'm much more a historian than aerodynamacist!) but I imagine some of these principles will remain the same.