[sirantsE90]

Originally Posted by BrianMN

Nice! Yeah if you can afford to get to some of the regional or National races, FF can be an absolute blast'!

Unfortunately no Open wheel stuff at VIR this year, but there is a PCA Club Race mid-June I wouldn't mind going to with some Porsche friends

Still a couple years out of college so can not swing it just yet but a couple years of research and staying in the loop should get me prepared when I'm ready to buy a starter car for myself.

Do you have any events in the northeast this year? Would love to come check it out. Watkins/limeRock?

[BrianMN]

Originally Posted by sirantsE90

Still a couple years out of college so can not swing it just yet but a couple years of research and staying in the loop should get me prepared when I'm ready to buy a starter car for myself.

Do you have any events in the northeast this year? Would love to come check it out. Watkins/limeRock?

Ah right on. Unfortunately there are no northeast races on the 2014 schedule The full-size Indy cars are going to Pocono I believe, but we don't go to any of the ovals. (Except the small Lucas Oil Raceway oval in Indy)

[R.G.]

Brian,

I thought the idea was to keep the area near the transmission uncovered to leave space for engine heat to evac? In the last set of photos looks like the entire area is covered. Also did you make any modifications to the windshield area? Your research is appreciated bud.

[BrianMN]

Originally Posted by R.G.

Brian,

I thought the idea was to keep the area near the transmission uncovered to leave space for engine heat to evac? In the last set of photos looks like the entire area is covered. Also did you make any modifications to the windshield area? Your research is appreciated bud.

Yep, that is correct! I was leaving a significant amount of the undertray open to alleviate the engine bay pressure/heat, but last year I had made some nice strides in cooling and essentially don't need to worry about heat as much. Interestingly enough, there is still a decent amount of air that travels through the driveshaft and exhaust tunnels, above the undertray and out of the top of the diffuser, so it's not completely "sealed". I noticed quite a bit of drag reduction resulting from having a complete underbody panel instead of having a large opening underneath the transmission, so overall I'd say it's worth it. I do also a panel with a naca vent pointing towards the rear diff as well, but I haven't had a chance to really see how hot the diff gets.

Regarding the windshield - I didn't make any modifications to the cowl or base of the windshield. I'm not sure if I mentioned in this thread, but the base of the windshield is a high pressure zone, and air actually enters the engine bay from behind the hood (assuming the cowl is removed).

Cheers!
Brian

[R.G.]

Originally Posted by BrianMN

Yep, that is correct! I was leaving a significant amount of the undertray open to alleviate the engine bay pressure/heat, but last year I had made some nice strides in cooling and essentially don't need to worry about heat as much. Interestingly enough, there is still a decent amount of air that travels through the driveshaft and exhaust tunnels, above the undertray and out of the top of the diffuser, so it's not completely "sealed". I noticed quite a bit of drag reduction resulting from having a complete underbody panel instead of having a large opening underneath the transmission, so overall I'd say it's worth it. I do also a panel with a naca vent pointing towards the rear diff as well, but I haven't had a chance to really see how hot the diff gets.

Regarding the windshield - I didn't make any modifications to the cowl or base of the windshield. I'm not sure if I mentioned in this thread, but the base of the windshield is a high pressure zone, and air actually enters the engine bay from behind the hood (assuming the cowl is removed).

Cheers!
Brian

Understood, thanks for the update Brian.


So if I understand correctly removing the cowl will actually decrease aero unless there was a modification done to the far edges of the cowl where air pressure would be lower. Is that correct?

Can you elaborate a little on the cooling strategies you have implemented?


I'd love to have a set up similar to yours with some sort of louvers incorporated to keep drag low and venting high. Is your under tray made of plastic? I apologize if it's already been covered.

Thanks again for all the work. Super appreciated

[BrianMN]

Originally Posted by R.G.

Understood, thanks for the update Brian.


So if I understand correctly removing the cowl will actually decrease aero unless there was a modification done to the far edges of the cowl where air pressure would be lower. Is that correct?

Can you elaborate a little on the cooling strategies you have implemented?


I'd love to have a set up similar to yours with some sort of louvers incorporated to keep drag low and venting high. Is your under tray made of plastic? I apologize if it's already been covered.

Thanks again for all the work. Super appreciated

No problem! It has been fun making and testing these (especially when seeing the fun data that shows them actually working well) and it's also resulted in opportunities to make one-off complete systems for "real" racecars

I'm not quite sure what you're picturing for the 'far edges' of the cowl, but the result of removing the cowl would be less pressure at the base of the windshield because that high pressure air would flow into the engine bay - would meaning the net result would be less drag and less downforce.

Louvers on the topside of the hood are one of the best ways to remove engine heat as well as increase downforce. The speed of the air going over the top of the hood would provide quite a bit of low pressure to "suck" the hot air out of the engine bay.
The strides in cooling were a combination of better ducting for the 2 big Setrab oil coolers, E85 and RB turbos, so I target 425whp without any worry of oil or coolant temps. I'll try to get some photos of the oil cooler setup this evening or weekend, but essentially it's two Setrab cores (one on each side of the bumper), with proper ducting to get air through them efficiently. Now it takes a very hot day to get temps above 255*F even with the sealed underbody.

As of early 2013 all of the underbodies/splitters/diffusers are all made primarily of carbon fiber with various sandwich materials. The splitters and undertrays consist of carbon and kevlar with balsa wood for the sandwich material, and the diffuser is made of only carbon with a airex foam as the sandwich material.

[R.G.]

Got it B, thanks for the clarification.

Am I off by thinking that removing the cowl will allow that high pressure air in to the engine bay causing a pressurized area? Having this pressurized engine bay would cause the airflow to hit a wall of air instead of flowing through the radiator and ducts efficiently. Sealing the bottom panel would exacerbate this issue by leaving less area for that air to escape.
Since you have made adjustments in hardware and fueling to offset that but for the average street car would be counterproductive.

The stock cowl seals the center area to keep air out and edges of cowl open to allow hot air to escape. I don't think people realize that running with the cowl off is counterproductive to engine cooling.

[just_dirty]

Which aeromotion wing is that? This thread has been very fun and very educational to follow. Awesome work!!

[SM335i]

more pics!!!!!

[9krpmrx8]

Why was Brian banned?

[Cloud9blue]

Originally Posted by 9krpmrx8

Why was Brian banned?

Because he doesnt want to pay vendor fees Gotta love this forum no?

[jakob66]

Originally Posted by Cloud9blue

Because he doesnt want to pay vendor fees Gotta love this forum no?

Does anybody know how to reach BrianMN??
Thanks!
.
.

[ShortShift]

Originally Posted by jakob66

Does anybody know how to reach BrianMN??
Thanks!
.
.

Brian@trueformtech.com

True form Technology on Facebook


running his inlets and love them

[jakob66]

Originally Posted by ShortShift

Brian@trueformtech.com

True form Technology on Facebook


running his inlets and love them

Thanks!

[WhatDoIPutHere]

This thread is great, does anyone know if someone were to try making their own aero pieces with just PVC material would benefit the car? I'm going on a budget and thought this would be a fun project. Also are all the stock under panels taken off or left on? Such as the plastic tray that connects to the front bumper.