Here's How Porsche's Innovative Wind Tunnel Works

Climate Central

Automakers have used wind tunnels to help shape their vehicles for a very long time now, and as one might imagine, that technology has also advanced considerably over the years. That includes Porsche, which just began using a unique type of wind tunnel at its brand-new climate center in Weissach back in 2022. 

Photos: Porsche

All the Seasons

At the Weissach Development Center climate center, Porsche is able to simulate pretty much every type of climate that exists across the globe, meaning that it doesn't have to travel to subject its vehicles to those conditions. “From an air temperature of -30 to +50°C, and from a monsoon to a drizzle, we can reproduce everything in our new climatic wind tunnel in the climate center,” said Porsche engineer Horst-Uwe Kroß. “We can also simulate wind speeds of up to 250 km/h for the vehicle and solar radiation of up to 1200 watts per square meter and relative humidity of between 5 and 95 percent.”

Photos: Porsche

Small Things

However, Porsche isn't just able to change the temperature and add in elements like rain to test its vehicles in this special tunnel - it can even do things like alter the position of the "sun," it seems. “While the position of the sun changes in a natural environment and the temperature of the road surface increases or decreases, we can apply the exact same conditions to the vehicle at any time in the climatic wind tunnel, therefore making it possible to measure even the smallest changes,” Kroß added.

Photos: Porsche

Important Test

This is important for obvious reasons - Porsche customers live everywhere from Norway to the Middle East, and expect their vehicles to function properly in extreme heat, cold, or any other kind of weather. Thus, Porsche is looking to test things including a vehicle's cooling circuit, the way a battery behaves in various temperatures, and whether or not different components can stand up to high winds. 

Photos: Porsche

Different Scenarios

“Our aim is to build sporty cars that also offer a high level of comfort,” explained Kroß. That's precisely why he and other Porsche engineers cover hundreds of test points in the tunnel, examining how its prototypes perform in all kinds of conditions. This can even include taking into consideration things like whether or not a vehicle is towing a trailer, driving up a mountain, or just cruising around in the city. 

Photos: Porsche

Human Element

Even in spite of this, Porsche still uses real-world road testing as part of its development process, chiefly because no amount of technology can completely replace the human element. “We cannot rely solely on our modern test bench, as driving on the road remains an essential part of the testing process,” Kroß said. “The typical Porsche driving experience is a subjective feeling influenced by the character of every vehicle - only human test drivers can find out whether a new model has it.”

Photos: Porsche

Evolution

Regardless, Porsche's wind tunnel testing process will continue to evolve and change in the coming years, which will be necessary as automobiles themselves continue to evolve. “You have to think of the building and the systems inside it as one big orchestra. Everything has to interact in such a way that we can consistently reproduce the exact same conditions down to a tenth of a degree,” says Kroß. “The human brain reaches its limits with so many components — artificial intelligence will help us to harmonize the many instruments of the orchestra in a finely tuned way."

Photos: Porsche

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