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HybridZ

Aero Research project ideas!


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Hello Hybridz! I am doing a masters in motorsport engineering and need to do a ground vehicle aerodynamics project and have one idea for another vehicle but my heart is always with datsuns..... one idea i have for datsuns is is it possible to reduce front lift without a front spoiler that changes the look of the car.... im open to other ideas and if anyone has cad files of the car I can run through CFD and then maybe 3d print to get in the tunnel would also be much appreciated! let me hear your ideas!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Just throwing things around here, I recall that some production type race cars used to have a channel type front spoiler, front view  ____.--------.____ Volvo springs to mind.  Have no firm idea on how it worked, perhaps the channel worked as a diffuser.

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The problem with the lift IS the front end profile. It channels air the hood, which has a shorter distance to travel to the back then over the top, and it makes lift.

 

Short of stopping the amount of air that enters under the car, you'd need to remove the hood to stop the path of air from traveling over top and creating some sort of turbulent mess of air, which would probably increase drag.

 

Making a spoiler to create downforce on the steering rack would negate some of the lift, but then you're channeling a lot of air up into the engine itself, which would increase drag.

 

What's the end goal you have for your project? What do you need to prove on a base level?

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I think the easiest way to reduce front lift is to duct the radiator to the front of the car, so that all the air that goes in the nose has to go through the rad and can't go under or over the rad support. Even better would be to take the air out of the rad and send it back outside of the car, either to the sides or out the hood. 

I also think that a wing shape under the crossmember could potentially work, but the front end of the Z packs so much air into the engine compartment that you'd have a hard time accelerating the air with your foil, as it would exhaust into the high pressure area under the hood. In other words, it probably won't work much or at all without first dealing with the huge amount of air that's packing into the front of the car.

 

None of the cars tested in the windtunnel had a radiator duct, unfortunately. They did close up the hole in the nose to varying degrees, which is better than nothing, but I think they left a lot on the table in that respect.

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  • 2 weeks later...

cfd has finished running for some situations today, but have not had time to crunch numbers and look at the results.... due to time crunch and lack of design files what i have in terms of cad is pretty basic. However alot of the theories of air being sucked up or getting stuck that have been mentioned should be at least visible or disproven based off findings.... I  am hoping that the cross member is low enough that with the profile selected it does not kick up air too much. Obviously hood louvers would help and some radiator ducting work could be beneficial.... due to time crunch the cfd does not have a porous media / heat transfer set up for radiator so that will be for a later day....

 

Improvements would come from adding the radiator, a front opening similar to the grill, the fan, and holes in rimes to generate vortecies.... this however ups the computational power and time required. 

 

For now hoping to see how much downforce a small wing in that area can produce, what can maybe lead to it producing more downforce, and then if its a good idea and the numbers look good maybe continue down the path.

 

Anyone whose done cfd on these cars any data, info, testing would be appreciated! suspicions and thoughts are all well and good but areo is always more complicated then it looks

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One of the first aero improvements to be done with the S30 is to reduce the size of the radiator intake mouth, it's way too big and as JM said packs way too much air into the engine bay where it has nowhere useful to go. This like most things with the S30 has been done, from memory I'm guessing down to something like a 600 x 200 mm opening. Metrics, get used to them :)

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