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Nissan V8 Supercar too slippery?
CotF boss Skaife says V8 Supercars can deal with slippery AltimaNissan's new V8 Supercar may need to be nobbled before it races in anger. That's the scenario V8 Supercars (V8SC) has prepared for ahead of aerodynamic testing of the new entrant in the coming weeks.
Based on the yet-to-be released Altima midsized sedan, the new Nissan V8 Supercar was unveiled at a live-streamed function in Melbourne yesterday. It has been built to V8SC's new Car of the Future (CotF) rules.
Team Nissan Motorsport and Kelly Racing development boss, Todd Kelly, stated at yesterday's launch the racecar's panels are essentially unaltered from the front-wheel drive donor road car. This is in contrast to the Holden Commodore and Ford Falcon CotF.
Standard Altima door skins, bonnet, boot and roof have been used. Changes are limited to elongated front and "slightly flared" rear guards, Kelly said.
But observers are already noting the slippery Nissan may potentially have an unassailable aerodynamic advantage over the incumbent Supercars. Not only is the Nissan windshield rake steeper but overall frontal area is reduced.
Racing cars' overall drag is a function of a combination of downforce and 'pure' aerodynamic drag. If there's less aero drag, then a team can potentially apply more downforce without affecting top speed. The result could be a car that's not only faster on the straights, but significantly faster through the corners as well.
V8SC CotF 'architect' Mark Skaife says this is a scenario the racing formula will be able to address.
"This is [a] very, very complex, question... [But] We’re going to apply world’s best practice to aero testing and engine equalisation," Mr Skaife told motoring.com.au.
"This is thousands of days in the planning, not just thinking about it now. As Todd [Kelly] said, when this car runs it will have various configurations of front aero and rear aero to be able to, firstly, make it competitive from a downforce standpoint, and for us to be able to properly assess the [overall] drag," Mr Skaife explained.
"We’ve already conducted the first lot of aero testing with the Ford and Holden Car of the Future prototypes. This car will be tested against those cars shortly. And at the end of that program, we’re confident, from a downforce standpoint, that part is a reasonably easy step.
"[With reference to] overall drag... We’ve done a lot of work already on what we believe are the critical areas of the car... [and]... we’ve worked very closely with Kelly Racing on having options to fill those. So if you look, for instance, on the corners of the cars, there’ll be lots of options for effectively flattening off the front of the car," Mr Skaife explained.
Mr Skaife says, however, that V8SCs is cognisant of the fact the Altima must be recognisable to the man in the street.
"What we don’t want to do is hurt the design in terms of the market relevance -- the authenticity of the car. So from our standpoint, we think that we can do that. Todd’s confident we can do that also. And we’ve matched it [the race car] up very closely on CFD [computational fluid dynamics] with the two [computer] models that we’re currently using. So I don’t think it's as big a step as we think," he stated.
Such add-on drag inducing parts would effectively nobble the inherent advantage of the smaller, more aerodynamically efficient shell. Equally, if applied early they also give V8SC's the option to 'give back' some aero advantage to the Japanese marque if, for instance, it has any issues matching the horsepower levels of the proven Ford and Chevrolet Racing powerplants used currently.
But Mr Skaife doesn't see the Nissan's Patrol-based DOHC V8 at any major disadvantage to the pure NASCAR-sourced racing V8s used now.
"You can talk horsepower all you like, but torque numbers and where they [the engines] actually achieve their peak torque [dictate]… from an efficiency standpoint, where they may actually have an advantage or not.
"There’ll be some work in that regard that may see the engine quite good in some places [tracks] versus others. But again, until we run it properly... I mean, the number [output] that they’ve achieved already is very impressive... [But] I don’t see anywhere that strikes me as, 'Hey, this is the car to have for that place'," Mr Skaife said.
Which is good news, as Mr Skaife says V8SC is as keen as Nissan to see the Altima competitive from the outset. A least to a point...
"No doubt [it is important the Altima is competitive]... But having said that, you do need to understand that in competitive motor racing... not many factory teams just arrive and win."
'What we’re [V8SC] hoping, and I’m sure the Kelly brothers are hoping, is that as they get the car on track [and it's competitive].
"They’ve done a lot of work underneath, in terms of making sure the specification of the car is as good as it can possibly be... I hope that it will win races in 2013, and I’m sure the Kellys do too," Mr Skaife opined.
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Written byMike Sinclair
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