At one time, trial and error were 'good enough' for the average tuner. A design was dreamed up from some combination of inspiration, imagination and possibly some level of intoxication. The Gurney flap was conceived and fabricated in minutes. As the story goes, Dan Gurney had a conversation with an aerodynamicist one day and, without really doing any mathematical analysis, the new aerodynamic device now seen in just about all forms of racing was born. Just an idea put into practice
Today, it seems every time you talk to a tuner of any size, they're talking about all the testing and analysis they're doing. We've said time and again about how computer geeks are taking over the tuning world. It's a combination of computer and engineering geeks that will be the next wave.
Dinan has recently released an air intake designed almost entirely by CFD-that's computational fluid dynamics. CFD software allows tuners to test flow through an airbox, throttle body, plenum, header or whatever, without even building one.
In the past, tuners would build prototype after prototype and run them all on the dyno. It was time-consuming and expensive, especially if using someone else's dyno. Now, for an investment of roughly $10,000 to $15,000 in hard- and software, a tuner can hire an engineering intern to sit in front of a computer all day and run different models.
This doesn't just apply to airflow models, either. Everyone from wheel manufacturers to strut brace builders are using Finite Element Analysis software to design parts. This is partly why we've seen an explosion in lightweight wheels of many different designs. As long as the engineer uses a realistic model for loads and conditions, he/she can essentially 'test' a wheel on a car without even leaving the desk.
Does this mean that software is a replacement for years of experience? No. It all comes down to how realistic you can make the model. There are some parts that are relatively straightforward. An anti-roll bar is pretty basic-it twists. However, you really have to study something even as simple as a wheel to understand the forces on it. This is something a brand new tuner is going to have trouble modeling in cyberspace.
What does this mean for the industry? The tech geeks and the track geeks are going to have to start talking. There has always been a bit of a wall between the guys who have spent their lives turning wrenches and the guy who pushes a mouse.
Your average tech geek doesn't have a real grasp of how things happen in the real world-there are too many variables to imagine. The average track geek is never going to have the patience to sit down and learn the complexities and intricacies of FEA and CFD programs. There will have to be a constant exchange of data between the two for things to work.
The real world is always the final world. You can make the best virtual component ever, but if you put it on a car and it's loaded with a force unforeseen by the programmer, it may not last a lap. At the same time, there's almost no way to optimize a component without some form of computer analysis. Constant testing of components to failure is too expensive, time-consuming and even dangerous.
Once again, leave it to cars to bring people together. The more the automotive industry changes, the better it becomes for everyone.