downforce

British

/ ˈdaʊnˌfɔːs /

noun

a force produced by air resistance plus gravity that increases the stability of an aircraft or motor vehicle by pressing it downwards

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

They are smaller and have less downforce, so they slide more in corners, and look more agile.

From BBC • Feb. 20, 2026

The reduced downforce has lowered cornering speeds and ensured some of the quicker corners, where drivers did not have to slow down before, will be more challenging.

From BBC • Feb. 5, 2026

Overall downforce is expected to be reduced by about 15-30%, although teams will inevitably claw this back as they develop their cars.

From BBC • Dec. 17, 2025

This leads to a sudden reduction in downforce, so the car jumps up, only for the airflow to start working again, the car sucked back down until the same thing recurs.

From BBC • Nov. 25, 2025

It happens because teams generally want to run their cars as low as possible, because the lower they are, the more aerodynamic downforce they create, so the faster the lap time.

From BBC • Nov. 23, 2025

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023