ECS

I just spoke to a Synergy racing mechanic regarding some questions on 997S engine robustness (see that thread for the report). I also asked him about their decision not to use the GT3 cup front aero and only the back GT3 aero wing. He stated that they did do a comparison. The comparison was done on the track only with no wind tunnel data. Their limited conclusion was a follows:

1. The 997S with the Cup fitted front aero was much "twitchier" on turn in. Sometimes it would turn very well and other times not well at all. Very inconsistent.
2. The lap times with the standard aero front were better than those times with the Cup aero. He chalked it up to the fact that the guys were more comfortable with the std. set up.

Certainly one would want to have the car set up a bit differently to optimize the Cup front and I don't know if they went that deep into this issue. Anyway, now we all know why Synergy stays with the std. front on the 997S.

Ed Newman

Aerodynamics, downforce in particular is a matter of balance. The 997 Cup is a designed and tested by te factory as a "system", which means you really need to be running both the nose and wing to get the proper balance. Running only the nose could result in too much downforce in front proportionate to the back and in turn... twitchiness.

ECS

Hi Ed, just want to be clear that Synergy did try the Cup front with the GT3 rear wing (I think that is the wing they use on the back). However, that wing may not be appropriate for the Cup front.