CFD plot of the static pressures around a dual-element rear wing

The plot below shows velocity vectors, coloured by static pressure, from the same viewpoint

SM AeRodynamic Techniques = 'SMART'.

Get SMART and get Aerodynamic!! Advice can be provided on the selection and deployment of wings, and also on a 'whole car' basis. Contact Simon McBeath to discuss your requirements . Perhaps you will want to join the growing band of competitors who have improved the aerodynamic performance of their cars using SMART services. Click here for more details.

Wing selection

If you require advice selecting the correct wing configuration(s) for your competition car, it will help us if you can tell us the following;

• what type of car you drive (saloon, sports racer, single seater etc). If you happen to have a reliable figure for the drag coefficient, that would be very useful! A photograph would help if you don’t have a Cd figure

• what the car’s frontal area is (height and width plus a photo will just about do...)

• what your car’s power output at the driven wheels is (a flywheel figure will do - it is possible to estimate the at-the-wheels figure from this)

• what the highest and lowest maximum speeds are at any venues you visit, and an idea of the cornering speed range encountered

We then calculate, using a method detailed in Competition Car Aerodynamics (see Books) a range of configurations of rear wing that the car can tolerate, given that there will be an inevitable and inescapable increase in drag compared to the no-wing case, and then work out what front wing configurations (if appropriate) will be needed to aerodynamically balance the proposed rear wing, taking into account, as far as possible, any other aerodynamic appendages the car may have already, or is likely to have. (Note that the presence of front wings has little effect on the overall drag figure for a car, as is often supposed). In the absence of wind tunnel testing, this empirical, iterative process usually helps to get ‘in the right ball park’. Fine tuning in testing and events will, however, be necessary to get a good balance.

Our wings have been proven in the wind tunnel, in CFD studies and on-track to give high levels of downforce with relatively low drag, giving customers good confidence in cornering with good straight line speed.

We can also provide CFD evaluations of your wing profiles, either in isolation in 'freestream air' or on a simplified competition car model. We currently have reduced detail models of a GT car and a single seater that can be used for more realistic wing evaluations and comparisons.

GET A BETTER GRIP WITH SM-AEROTECHNIQUES and
THE WING SHOP!

Go to Facts