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for functional aero check out 333pg333 and Duke (both RL users), their cars over the years have gone from stock bodies to full on WTAC spaceships with all the aero you could imagine.
I have been playing with computational fluid dynamics free software FreeFoam but it's really Linux based and you have to run a patch to make it Windows compatible and my one Linux machine, a several year old laptop crashes at a whim so I'm afraid to get too deep and lose work.
I have a new desktop that I just built on the Ryzen platform with 16 gigs of fast ram and ssd drives but haven't gotten Linux running on it yet other than in virtual boot drive.
But, alas, I have too many irons in the fire already and don't need nor want to become a self trained aerodynamisist....
It is something that interest me very much though and I think I have a sense to sort of "see" how aero items will or will not work.
That said, most of Patricks parts come right off IFC website and while I am a fan of the offset fenders vented at the rear those boxed rockers leave a little to be desired compared to a shelf that is lower to the ground as far as I can see so far looking at already created files in FreeFoam.
Separate from already off the shelf parts, the RP968 that was actually scanned into software, surely more powerful than FreeFoam, and with a qualified designer arriving at a conclusion specific to the 944/968 body, ended up with the shelf type side rocker....as have most of the fastest WTAC designers.
Eon got tagged in the left rear quarter at the start of second heat at Barber by a guy he was 2 seconds a lap faster than and had just left by 50 seconds in the previous heat.
I guess he figured if he could just get past on the start that Eon wasn't gonna hunt him down and disappear by nearly a minute in a 30 minute sprint just like before....
Anyways, my aero route on this new car is probably going to start, and be built around just off the shelf GT wide body rear 1/4s because i need a steel 1/4 off this new body to repair the SP2 NA car that was damaged and instead of a flare add-on, this will allow me to cut/remove the existing 1/4 to use for free for repair of the other car.
The class rules allow a maximum width that allows for me to 1) cut and widen my existing fiberglass fenders to incorporate the offset to the door rear venting and 2)reconfigure 2 sets of Fikse wheels that I already have to gain +3-4" of width in track. The lower fender (from bottom to top of rock guard on a factory fender) will be cut off and replaced with a vane, like a barge board that extracts air from the front wheel well......which is why I want the shelf type rocker...., to place this air on top and limit interference of under car air movement until it is detached via a ramp at the front of the rear 1/4 which also serves to extricate the rear wheel well.
In F1, and world class sports car racing, WTAC included, there are a lot of highly trained graduates and disciples of past successful aero guys and with the advent of powerful computing and software dedicated to fluid dynamics, trends appear but I still say, that much is still experimental and trial and error or every F1 car, World class Le Mans or WTAC entrant would show up on the grid completely identical...., but they do not which makes you conclude, that much is just theory, and hey, my theories are just as good as the next guy....
any thoughts on making some add-on hood vents that complement the styling of the 944? you know, with certain angles and curves built in, rather than HVAC register vents, lol.
In fact, yes. I may reproduce the vents used on my racers hood. These were designed to complement the lines of the hood and I think it turned out okay. If the decision is made, I'll offer them in a rivet on version just as the top side fender vents currently in development.
Why dont you make something that allows more hot air to go out?
Have you tested the air pressure zones on the hood?
This raises the hood a litle to create positive pressure, sucking the air from the radiator`/intercooler out.
those look very similar to the IROC Camaro vents.
creativity and fabrication are very cool but there is an underlying rule (within reason)..."never build what you can buy"
those look very similar to the IROC Camaro vents.
creativity and fabrication are very cool but there is an underlying rule (within reason)..."never build what you can buy"
The vents on my racer were made to follow the contour of our Porsche hood. In the end, I'd imagine they will offer a better fit than most "off the shelf" louvered vents.
"never build what you can buy"...This may ring true for others, but I enjoy the creative process and the art of fabrication.
So, I do stuff differently, and I have seen people mold entire side projects like you show here using nothing but clay....seems heavy and expensive to me.
My own technique is to use blocks of differing dimensions wherever I find them (FED EX has 4'x10' sheets) then carve and sand my shapes freehand, but again, I am only making one-offs and do not plan to reproduce unless a part is damaged and in that case, since I made the 1st without molds, I can replicate.
Point of post - is the white material that's making the shaped foam more durable for finish work and mold creation just a mix of epoxy and micro balloons...?
Don't mind him......, I don't think he realized at the time that this admission was self depreciating......
T
the point was, those looked an awful lot like iroc camaro vents, so better to spend the 100 bucks for ready made ones than spend several days making molds and laying glass.
I feel the back fender flare needs to reach the same maximum point on the fender as the front flare (so yes all the way up to the yellow) in order to look clean. I don't think that I have ever seen a body kit where the front flare reaches a different height than the rear flare. Just personal opinion!
the point was, those looked an awful lot like iroc camaro vents, so better to spend the 100 bucks for ready made ones than spend several days making molds and laying glass.
I knew what you meant.
"Hey, those hood vents are pretty cool, you make those yourself..?"
"Nah...., bought 'em on ebay from IROCs R Us."
vs.
"Hey, those hood vents are pretty cool, you make those yourself..?"
"Why yes, yes I did, thank you very much...!"
I feel the back fender flare needs to reach the same maximum point on the fender as the front flare (so yes all the way up to the yellow) in order to look clean. I don't think that I have ever seen a body kit where the front flare reaches a different height than the rear flare. Just personal opinion!
Look back up at posts 6 & 9 again, it's a way to vent front fender well air.
07-04-2018, 03:23 PM
