Speed Junkies,
Doing computer airflow simulations of our race vehicles has always been an expensive proposition. Mostly because of the cost of accurately measuring the car/bike in the first place. With a tape measure and calipers it could easily take days.
Well, at PRI at Indianapolis this year I met a man who has a device that is used to measure Formula One cars, and any other car that has to have a body with dimensions to an exact spec . Takes him 10-15 minutes to sweep the car with his laser scanner and then he lays his results over the legal template for the car and the areas where it doesn’t match are highlighted.
Point being in 10-15 minutes he can create a digital file of your car that can be used in CFD programs to work on your aerodynamics. I'm flying him to San Diego in the next few weeks to measure my car and a few other cars and bikes. If you would like to participate, cost will most likely be in the $100-$200 range and he will give you results accurate to a couple of thousandths should you wish. The “tighter” the grain the higher the cost.
I’m trying to get a handle on what the interest level might be from all y'all if I bring him out here in the next month or so. As I said, I’ve already got a couple of cars and a couple of bikes committed, and JBA here in San Diego says we can use their facility to do the measuring.
So please let me know if you would be interested… the sooner the better since our “off” season is fast slipping away.
Probably should use my day-to-day e-mail to respond jim@answercalifornia.com since I don't make it to the Forum too often.
Later,
Knapp
