After the presentation of the new CUPRA Leon Competición, we told you that it brought “significant improvements in aerodynamic efficiency”, today we explain how these were achieved.
In a video recently released by CUPRA, we get to know better the process that led the new Leon Competicion to offer less aerodynamic resistance while having greater downforce.
As the technical development manager of CUPRA Racing, Xavi Serra, reveals, the objective behind the work in the wind tunnel is to ensure less air resistance and greater grip in corners.
In order to do this, Xavi Serra says: “we measure the parts on a 1:1 scale with the real aerodynamic loads and we can simulate the real contact with the road, and that way we get the result of how the car will behave on the track”.
the wind tunnel
The wind tunnel in which the CUPRA Leon Competición is being tested consists of a closed circuit where huge fans move the air.
Stefan Auri, Wind Tunnel Engineer.The most important thing is that we can simulate the road. The wheels turn thanks to electric motors that move tapes under the car.
There, the vehicles face winds of up to 300 km/h while, through sensors, each of their surfaces is studied.
According to Stefan Auri, “The air moves in circles thanks to a five meter diameter rotor equipped with 20 blades. When it is at full strength, no one can be inside the enclosure as they would literally fly away”.
Supercomputers also help
Complementing the work done in the wind tunnel, we also find supercomputing, which plays a fundamental role in development when the model is in its initial phase and there is still no prototype to study in the wind tunnel.
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There, 40,000 laptops that work in unison are put at the service of aerodynamics. It is the MareNostrum 4 supercomputer, the most powerful in Spain and the seventh in Europe. In the case of a collaboration project with SEAT, its calculation power is used to study aerodynamics.
Razão Automóvel's team will continue online, 24 hours a day, during the COVID-19 outbreak. Follow the recommendations of the General Directorate of Health, avoid unnecessary travel. Together we will be able to overcome this difficult phase.