Terrorizing Time: Integra Type R

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Front nose and air dam created by Eric – that's him on the left waving – from R-Division. Splitter built by Chris from Boersma Racing. Truly function and form combining for great results.

 

The bodywork and aero has been an area of significant change for 2016. The front nose and air dam is both simple and incredibly effective. Stripped of the wrap, the car (left) is now in its naked form and looks rather forlorn! Eric designed the front nose and air dam with material supplied by Russ Bursey. The duct work that Russ created for the intercooler was actually quite complicated, but the first model fit perfectly. Aerodynamically it is working very well. It was also necessary as James had a huge off at Buttonwillow in 2015 and finished the event with more duct tape on the front end than any other material. Except for the incredibly strong carbon fibre splitter made by Chris from Boersma Racing, which endured all of the abuse.

 

The canards and winglets from 2014 and 2015 are gone. The air dam/nose is a flat facade down to the splitter. The splitter extends wider than the car's body work by a couple of inches. The fender spats extend out to the width of the fender flare to keep unwanted air from the tire or entering the wheel well. Russ Bursey made the splitter end plates and spats. The pry bar, well, sometimes persuasion is required … because racecar!

 

Literally, this car is ready for the floor of a major show. The wheel spats tie in with the fender flare. The side skirts hug the ground, mid-season venting from Professional Awesome was added to the fender and hood. Looking for that extra fraction of a second, some packing tape was applied to the seam between the nose and fender.

 

Another mid-season addition was this hood extension. Without any need for explanation you can see that this will significantly reduce turbulence created between the hood and windshield. Windshield wipers … long gone.

 

The car has more aero and downforce than it did in 2015. The car has similar power levels to 2015. Yet it has a recorded top speed at Buttonwillow in 2016 of 134 mph versus 2015's 129 mph. Top speed attained at Road Atlanta was about 155 mph. James attributes this speed increase to the enhanced effectiveness of the aerodynamics as developed by Professional Awesome. Unfortunately, I am not allowed to disclose the techniques applied but from the photos we can see that fender cutouts and venting have been added. The diffuser is different. The sideskirts were already in place, having been developed by Russ Bursey, a good friend of James, but cut outs (for air flow?) have obviously been added. The side skirts also extend further forward – there used to be a space for ease of access for a floor jack. Russ did all of the aluminum work on the side skirts, the rear diffuser, the front and rear spats, and the splitter end plates. He also supplied the duct work for the intercooler.

 

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