“We spent approximately 250 hours in the wind tunnel developing the new Mustang,” said Mustang and Bronco aerodynamicist Jonathan Gesek. “The aerodynamics of the Mustang Dark Horse have created the most track-capable 5.0-liter Mustang to date.”
The industrial facility is long way from the simple aerodynamic tricks featured in the hit Ford v. Ferrari movie in which engineers attached flags to cars on test tracks to examine air flow. RRWT brings the track to the car by constructing an enormous donut with a wind turbine on one side and test vehicles strapped down in a test bay on the other.
Secured by four, sturdy floor struts that double as data collectors, cars then run on four separate belts under each wheel – or an interchangeable fifth center belt—capable of 200 mph speeds. Aerodynamicists like Gesert then monitor the data on multiple computer screens in a glass-encased control room—hopping back and forth to the wind tunnel to test different aerodynamic features.
The Mustang team, for example, developed a Handling Package for Dark Horse that includes multiple aero mods including a rear wing, rear-wing Gurney flap (named after driver/engineer Dan Gurney who co-drove the legendary Ford Mk IV to victory at the 1967 Le Mans), and underbody strakes that help suck the pony to the ground. Combined with a remade front air spoiler and splitter, the features create downforce so the pony car can corner faster.
Wind tunnels came into common use in the mid-1960s on race cars like Porsches as engineers applied Bernoulli’s principle of fluid dynamics used to lift airplanes off the ground—except in reverse. The RRWT is an advance on the last wind tunnel Ford built in 1999 and improves on the 2008-vintage Windshear facility—a 180 mph-capable tunnel in Concord, North Carolina—that has been used to develop NASCAR and IndyCar racers.
Gesek said the Mustang uses a wind tunnel perhaps three times more often than a typical sedan. But as Ford develops more electric vehicles, aerodynamics are also key to low wind resistance to deliver better energy efficiency.“We’re using the wind tunnel quite a bit on our commercial vehicles as well as performance cars,” said John Toth, Ford’s North America Wind Tunnels Engineering Supervisor. “The amount of air moved by our wind tunnel is enough to fill a K-Class blimp in just over 5 seconds.”
Toth said the expense of constructing higher speed tunnels is always a deterrent, but that computer simulators can only go so far. “Computer simulators will get you 90% of the way there,” he said standing between the blades of the enormous turbine during a rare media tour of the facility.
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A key benefit of RRWT is it its ability to give more accurate data compared to earlier wind tunnel designs – key factors when optimizing for range and efficiency. The turbine was constructed by TLT Turbo in Germany and is driven by a 5.4 megawatt motor.
“The closer we can get to reality in the lab, the better and faster we can create more energy efficient vehicles with great on-road and track stability,” said Toth.
Tailored aerodynamics are applied across Ford’s 60 vehicle lineup. For passenger vehicles, the goal is low drag. Performance weapons like Dark Horse, however, balance low drag with increased downforce for high speeds in sweeping corners.
The physical forces in the wind tunnel demand high precision and the facility is constructed with that in mind. The nickel-coated turntable, for example, is separated by just 1.5 millimeters from the surrounding floor. The estimated $200 million facility broke ground in 2017, and has been in operation since January, 2022.
Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne
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“We spent approximately 250 hours in the wind tunnel developing the new Mustang,” said Mustang and Bronco aerodynamicist Jonathan Gesek. “The aerodynamics of the Mustang Dark Horse have created the most track-capable 5.0-liter Mustang to date.”
