**Late Model Racecraft at GM Aero Wind Tunnel**
07-26-2011, 04:01 PM
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**Late Model Racecraft at GM Aero Wind Tunnel** Just got back from our 24hr ride home from the General Motors testing facility in Warren, Michigan(very tired). It was like a college campus for gear heads.
This past week was one of most interesting weeks I have had when it comes to motorsports and thats saying alot considering I am around this stuff on a daily basis. The knowledge we learned from this experience is priceless. We worked directly with Thomas Froling(lead aero engineer on the C6 and Z06 body and currently putting the finishing touches on the 2012 ZL Camaro and the beginning stages of the 2014 camaro and C7). The first day we pulled the corvette into the prep room. This is where they scaled the car and hooked up all sensors in preperation for the wind tunnel testing that would take place the following day. I pulled the LMR corvette right next to a full size clay model of a 2014 camaro and 1/3 scale clay model of the C7(both were corvered as much as possible) and NO CAMERAS were allowed in this room for obvious reasons. I asked about both projects and they did not want to tell much. All they could tell me was that the C7 was far from production and that several body issues still had to be worked out as well as the powerplant.
Anyway, the next day was our wind tunnel testing from 8am to 6pm. Our main goal was to lower the drag coefficient of the vehicle while improving rear down force for traction purposes while traveling down the mile. Josh and a the general motors aero team ran SEVERAL tests and changed several setups to get the numbers we were looking for by the end of the day. I cannot disclose too much information but I can tell you there were alot of little things tested that I would have NEVER thought of to help reduce drag.
Now that we have our prototype pieces complete, we will start production on the LMR/General Motors Aero drag package for C6 Corvettes and will try and have them on the market for corvette owners looking to pick up MPH without adding any extra horsepower before the next mile event.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ex7vFTE_wGw
This past week was one of most interesting weeks I have had when it comes to motorsports and thats saying alot considering I am around this stuff on a daily basis. The knowledge we learned from this experience is priceless. We worked directly with Thomas Froling(lead aero engineer on the C6 and Z06 body and currently putting the finishing touches on the 2012 ZL Camaro and the beginning stages of the 2014 camaro and C7). The first day we pulled the corvette into the prep room. This is where they scaled the car and hooked up all sensors in preperation for the wind tunnel testing that would take place the following day. I pulled the LMR corvette right next to a full size clay model of a 2014 camaro and 1/3 scale clay model of the C7(both were corvered as much as possible) and NO CAMERAS were allowed in this room for obvious reasons. I asked about both projects and they did not want to tell much. All they could tell me was that the C7 was far from production and that several body issues still had to be worked out as well as the powerplant.
Anyway, the next day was our wind tunnel testing from 8am to 6pm. Our main goal was to lower the drag coefficient of the vehicle while improving rear down force for traction purposes while traveling down the mile. Josh and a the general motors aero team ran SEVERAL tests and changed several setups to get the numbers we were looking for by the end of the day. I cannot disclose too much information but I can tell you there were alot of little things tested that I would have NEVER thought of to help reduce drag.
Now that we have our prototype pieces complete, we will start production on the LMR/General Motors Aero drag package for C6 Corvettes and will try and have them on the market for corvette owners looking to pick up MPH without adding any extra horsepower before the next mile event.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ex7vFTE_wGw
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07-26-2011, 08:20 PM
#15
Very cool to post this up and nice to see GM working with the aftermarket more to produce things for mile events and going faster. 
Besides it being badass to do this type of thing and just to be inside the tunnel would be awesome, what types of data are collected to learn about drag and how to reduce it? Like what is the point of that guy with the smoke gun type thing besides to see how the air moves over the car? What measurements are you able to take and read from inside the booth and with the sensors and smoke gun? Are you able to get a full read out of the air moving over the entire car and where it moves the best and where it makes the most drag or "hot" spots?
Also, what types of pieces/parts did you test for the corvette in the tunnel? Were you able to just test each piece or the entire vehicle with the additional parts with each change made?
ps-shoulda snuck in that black badass 4th gen camaro you guys run in the mile events at the end...woulda been cool to see those results for sure..
Besides it being badass to do this type of thing and just to be inside the tunnel would be awesome, what types of data are collected to learn about drag and how to reduce it? Like what is the point of that guy with the smoke gun type thing besides to see how the air moves over the car? What measurements are you able to take and read from inside the booth and with the sensors and smoke gun? Are you able to get a full read out of the air moving over the entire car and where it moves the best and where it makes the most drag or "hot" spots?
Also, what types of pieces/parts did you test for the corvette in the tunnel? Were you able to just test each piece or the entire vehicle with the additional parts with each change made?
ps-shoulda snuck in that black badass 4th gen camaro you guys run in the mile events at the end...woulda been cool to see those results for sure..
