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Supercars has wrapped up its three-day wind tunnel test after a promising final day in Windshear’s North Carolina facility.
Both Supercars CEO Shane Howard and General Manager of Motorsport Tim Edwards gave an air of confidence that aerodynamic parity will be achieved thanks to the historic exercise, after the first season of Gen3 competition was marred by squabbles over parity on multiple fronts.
“We had three days here, we prepped the cars, scanned the cars, got the cars in here, there’s a lot of tweaking and sometimes, you’re chasing your tail,” Howard told the category’s official website.
“But it was refreshing to come here this morning and around 11 o’clock [Sunday morning, local time], we got the nod that both cars were in the box.
“It’s been a really good exercise, good people, everyone worked really well together, the HTs [homologation teams] worked well together.
“We obviously had Chris [Popiela, senior director of aerodynamics] from NASCAR here and had his experience and heard some of his advice.
“Dynamic [Supercars CFD contractor], very good, and obviously the people from Windshear that run this facility, are well-polished and professional at what they do. Lot of information, lot of data, good result.”
Edwards added, “We got ourselves to a point where we settled on the Camaro yesterday, so then it was up to the Mustang and DJR.
“You can only run one car at a time, so somebody had to go first. And because the Mustang has had quite a few changes this year, they had more toys to play with, more parts in their cabinet.
“We got a bit off an inkling of where we were at last night, so gave the guys the opportunity to go home, have a sleep, and come back refreshed this morning with a plan.
“It was probably about 11 o’clock we got close to the box, and then they spent the rest of the day trying to refine that and optimise things.”
Exact specifications are yet to be announced, and official sign-off from the homologation teams (Triple Eight Race Engineering for Chevrolet and Dick Johnson Racing for Ford) is still to come.
However, a video published by Supercars showed a suite of changes to the Ford Mustang, which may or may not become part of its 2024 VSD (Vehicle Specification Document):
- New cheeks (front fascia)
- Wheel arch packers
- Splitter skid block adjustment
- Gurney on rear wing endplate
- Gurney flap along trailing edge of rear wing plane
- Rear wing pillar gurney
- Modified rear wing angle
After the equivalent of around 4200km on the Windshear rolling road, the focus now starts to shift to engine parity.
That will include transient dynamometer testing, beginning initially in the United States, but Supercars has also confirmed the arrival of torque sensors in Australia.
“Going from here, we’ll still be looking at the engines, we’re looking at a programme on an AVL dyno,” confirmed Howard.
“We’re using better tools to get better information to make better decisions, to ensure we get equitable racing situations.
“The focus will go on that, and we’re not far from the start of the season.
“You take the Christmas break out of that, and we’re back into it. So we’re looking forward to that.”
