Quote:
Originally Posted by Shepherd777
I posted this image of the brand new Ferrari F60 America in a different thread that was discussing wheel well vents.
My question for all of you backyard aerodynamic gurus is: What effect would such a vent have on aerodynamics?
Would the airflow on the body right behind the tire at the outside of the vent opening become seriously disturbed, as it would have to "jump" to the body of the door?
Or would it merge/blend with the air coming out of the vent and maintain a laminar flow???
What effect would hot air coming out of that vent be if the Ferrari was a front engine vehicle and not a mid-engine car?
I know historically, Ferrari was not interested in aero at all, just horsepower. Now they are of course considered leaders in aero. So it's kinda hard for me to think they would degrade the Cd for mere "styling."
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*I don't know the answer.
*Here are some thoughts:
# It's a supercar,so if the vent has anything to do with engine cooling,it is under the heat flux of full power (maximum airflow at all times)
# If sealed,the vent is like the open bed of a pickup truck,tacked on on both sides.
# The air cannot flow over that without vorticity and turbulence
# Since there is 'body' behind it,we CAN get reattachment,creating a locked-vortex inside the well.
# If optimized,these extractors COULD hold the cooling system drag to the 2% maximum as Hucho discusses.(And Korff)
# Since its cooling flow,it's not necessarily robbing critical air from the rest of the forebody.
# Since the half-ducts are diverging,it might be evidence that Ferrari optimized them to blend the exhausting flow into the surrounding side flow at the same velocity,which would mitigate turbulence where the two streams combine.Dr.Alberto Morelli did this in Pinifarina's wind tunnel with the 1976-78 CNR 'banana' car.Ferrari will spend 100-hours on a winglet,they'd probably be willing to spend equal time on a vent.
# And bringing the air out the sides probably reduces firewall and floorboard heating,leading to a more comfortable cabin.
# And in the event of a cooling system breach,you don't have coolant hitting the windshield,which could momentarily blind the driver.
# For fuel economy,the vents would be active,morphing (Gill slits) with heat load,always presenting the minimum disturbance as a function of road load.