When comparing different types of motorsports, you’ll notice that some cars have their wheels exposed and away from the vehicle. In contrast, others have wheels directly under the vehicle (like everyday cars). Cars with exposed wheels are known as ‘open-wheel’ race cars, and they have several significant differences from their closed-wheel counterparts.

An open-wheel race car has its wheels placed away from the vehicle and exposed to the air. These cars typically have single-seater cockpits where the driver’s head is exposed to the air. Closed-wheel cars, like touring and stock cars, keep their wheels under the car’s body covered by fenders. These cars can fit a second person, like a co-pilot or navigator, as in rally racing.

In this article, we will look at the differences between open- and closed-wheel race cars.

Let’s get started.

What Is An Open-Wheel Race Car?

As the name suggests, an open-wheel race car has uncovered wheels placed away from the vehicle’s body. In addition, these race cars have an open-air cockpit, with the engine typically located behind the driver. Open-wheel race cars are also referred to as formula cars (e.g. those used in Formula One racing) or single-seater cars.

One Seat, Tight Space

Typically, these race cars only have one seat that will accommodate the driver with very little space around them. As a result, it’s quite a tight squeeze for the driver, which is why there is much more thought and design that goes into the steering wheel.

Open-Air Cockpit

Another unique trait of open-wheel race vehicles is that the cockpit is large enough to house the driver’s body. Unfortunately, that means the driver’s head is exposed to the air throughout the race, which means that their head has a much higher injury risk than any other part of their body.

Unfortunately, having an open-air cockpit also means that drivers are at a higher risk of being hit by flying objects.

For these reasons and more, drivers in open-wheel race vehicles must wear helmets and other protective gear that emphasises protection for the head.

Stronger Emphasis On Steering Wheel Design

Try and imagine the steering wheel on an F1 car. As you might already know, those steering wheels have a very ergonomic design and many buttons and controls built into them. The reason for this is simple: there is very little space in an open-wheel race for the driver to move around. So, all of the controls must be at their fingertips.

Examples Of Open-Wheel Racing

The most widely-known example of open-wheel racing is Formula 1. 

Another famous example in the United States is the Indy500 or the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race. This race involves the use of Indy Cars, open-wheel single-seaters that are explicitly designed for use in Indy500 races.

What Is A Closed-Wheel Race Car?

In the world of motorsports, there are many vehicles that you can consider to be the opposite of open-wheel race cars. Instead, they’re collectively referred to as ‘closed-wheel’ racing cars, though they fall into several categories. For instance, there are sports cars, streetcars, production cars, touring cars and more.

What all of these vehicles have in common is that their wheels are placed below the main body of the vehicle, and those wheels are often covered by fenders. In simpler terms, closed-wheel race cars look much more like the everyday cars that you and I drive on public streets.

Covered Cockpit

Closed-wheel vehicles have a full-sized interior. That means the cockpit is inside the vehicle, and the driver is covered on all sides. So, unlike open-wheel race vehicles, these cars provide drivers with much more protection against flying objects and other dangers outside the vehicle.

More Interior Space

Closed-wheel racing cars also have much more interior space in and around the cockpit compared to open-wheel versions. But, of course, on a race car, that space isn’t going to be used to place more seats or other creature comforts.

Instead, the interior space can be used to accommodate a second person if needed, such as a navigator or co-pilot in rally cars. Plus, many more protective features can be installed in that additional space, like additional anti-roll bars, for example.

Distributed Controls

With much more room afforded to the race car driver, there is less of a need to focus all of the vehicle’s controls on the steering wheel. Therefore, these cars will have standard controls like hand brakes and shift lever/gear stick in the same places as they’d be in any other car on the road.

Examples Of Closed-Wheel Racing

Some of the most popular forms of closed-wheel racing include NASCAR, the World Rally Championship, and so much more. But, in simpler terms, any form of auto racing that doesn’t use open-wheel cars would fall into this category.

Differences Between Open-Wheel and Closed-Wheel Race Cars

Here are the general differences between open-wheel and closed-wheel race cars.

Weight

One advantage of open-wheel race cars is that they are much lighter than their closed-wheel counterparts. But, unfortunately, they are so lightweight and powerful that they are much more challenging for drivers to master. That’s especially true because these cars combine a lightweight chassis with a high-powered engine.

Safety

Open-wheel race vehicles are also significantly more dangerous to drive. Remember: these cars have fully exposed wheels that stick away from the car’s body. When these wheels come into contact with those of another car, that can spell disaster.

Wheel-to-wheel contact can result in one or both cars being flung in the air, potentially resulting in damage, injury, and worse.

When an open-wheel race car is damaged, there’s a high likelihood that the entire vehicle must be retired. That’s different from other types of race cars designed to handle impact much more effectively and can still be raced after being repaired.

Driving Style

Because of the unique wheel-on-wheel contact risk described above, open-wheel race car drivers must alter their driving style to avoid contact at all costs. Unfortunately, that’s one reason why it’s challenging to master driving this kind of race car.

These drivers must be more extremely mindful when taking corners or passing other vehicles. Their training and skills emphasise avoiding contact at all costs, which they know could be catastrophic to both the driver and their vehicle.

Street Legal Versions

You will often find street-legal versions of many closed-wheel racing cars, like sports cars and supercars. However, street-legal open-wheel vehicles are extremely rare. The reason for this is pretty straightforward: open-wheel car designs are not practical for everyday use on city streets.

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