> http://www.geocities.com/fgtof50gt1/
>
> The rear fender line looks so much cleaner and better than the street
> production version:
The center mounts do clean up the line a little doesn't it? The aero on
the car was never fully developed due to the early cancellation of the
project in 1997. Wind tunnel time was at a premium due to the demands
of the F1 program (trying to sort out the F310B, F300 and initial work
on the F399) and the disruption caused by the construction of and the
move to the new Renzo wind tunnel during 1996-8.
When you look at the wing, it's pretty simple, not nearly as complex as
other GT cars of the time. They just didn't have the human or technical
resources to complete the work. Somewhere I heard that the advanced
aero work was going to be farmed out to Fondmetal, but that tunnel was
bought out (by Benetton I think).
Can anyone supply a reference describing and
> quantifying the real effect of the street rear wing?
The only thing I have is the press kit which says...
"Aerodynamics played an important role during the first draft of the
project specifications for the following reasons:
-highly advanced car in terms of performance,
-link between the internal aerodynamic components (cross-flows) and
surface layer flows;
-balance between aerodynamic loads in the dual configuration (barchetta
and berlinetta)
The Designers respected the constraints of the project, respecting and
enhancing the fluid dynamic requirements by:
-the bonnet which has the dual function of eliminating the hear of the
radiating mass and contribution significantly to the front vertical load;
-the shape of the front bumper, with an entrance that allows the air
flow to hit the under body without separating, for a good vacuum field
on the surface of the car under body and therefore of the vertical load
on the axles; the Cz is 0.372
-the FX-63-137 profile of the rear wing particularly suited to the
characteristic Reynold numbers of the car, due to the integration of the
rear vertical load
- the shape of the element for conversion to the barchetta configuration
cancels the reverse flow effect, to improve comfort inside the cabin."
Later under styling it says...
"The strong traits that distinguish the car all have a specific
technical motivation" and follows with "the rear spoiler stretches the
whole width of the car to balance the negative lift of the under body".
Hope that helps!
T308
(Whose Reynolds numbers vary on a daily basis...)