Last Sat I was feeling very unmotivated, so I decided to do something that for me was more “fun”.  Even though at this stage the aero under the front of the car is not on the critical path for the engine tune, I still wanted it done before the first event.  So, in order to aid motivation, I started it ahead of schedule – despite being behind on most of the other tasks 🙂

So, the picture here are showing the floor of the engine bay area, from underneath the car.  There are tunnels on each side, extracting the air out behind the front wheels.  These diffusers work with the air underneath the car, causing a low pressure area under the floor, which sucks the car down onto the road, creating more grip.  The reality is a lot more complex than that, but I’m not sure its worth the pages of text to explain this complex subject (of which I still only have a moderate understanding of, despite many books and research)

Who knows if these will actually work…..  When I get some time to test the car I will run it with and without the floor and see what the handling differences and lap time are like.  I also want to buy a pressure sensor and hook it up to the data logger, so that I can measure the pressures under the car to see if these things are working, and how well.

At the meelup hillclimb at the end of 2010,  the cheap, not very good wing that I found and put onto the rear of the car made a difference that I could easily feel in the car – so hopefully these tunnels that I have actually designed will do an even better job.

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