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This part of the front splitter is a vortex generator that makes an underbody vortex to really seal the sides of the car. The vortexes work as side curtains to prevent spillover air from reducing the effectiveness of the venturis. |
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These louvers straighten the air flow exiting the rear wheel wells. This improves the effectiveness of the rear diffuser as well as reduces overall drag. |
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A close look at the sturdy mounting points of the rear bodywork. Look how thick the carbon is in the surrounding area as well. Seibon makes this, well just kidding, trying to see if you were paying attention. Voltex didn't make it either. |
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The rear undertray is mostly flat bottom with the venturis. The venturis move air into the rear diffuser. This airflow makes the underside of the car act like an upside down airplane wing even though the natural shape of the car tends to otherwise generate lift. The rules limit what can be done to the cars aerodynamically quite a bit and thus current P1 cars generate about 3500 lbs of downforce, which is quite a bit less than the late great GTP cars which used to generate over 7000 lbs of manhole sucking downforce. In the old days the teams that had the most power could run the most downforce and win. First Nissan, then later Toyota dominated like this. Even though the current P1 cars have half the downforce and almost half the power of the GTP cars, improvements in technology and design still allow them to turn faster lap times! |
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A look at the rules mandated somewhat simple single element rear wing. This is a far cry from the massive multi plain, multi element downforce monsters we saw in the 80s. |
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I often get asked about why a lot of current cars employ “swan neck” style rear wing mounts. It is pretty simple, the airflow underneath the wing is more important for the generation of downforce than the top. The swan neck leaves the bottom of the wing undisturbed by pick up point turbulence. The wing is quite a bit more efficient this way. I have heard numbers of 10% better thrown around. Look again at how thick the carbon around the mounting points to the transaxle is. |
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The vent holes in the fenders were orignaly covered with louvers but these were eliminated by a rules change in hopes of reducing blowover accidents. Loosing the lovers also caused a loss in downforce. |
