Oval Racing Technology

Issue 14 • February 2016 • www.racecar-engineering.com/stockcar Sponsored by

NASCAR: The future

FROM THE PUBLISHER OF Untitled-73 1 22/01/2016 09:04 CONTENTS

he current edition of Racecar Engineering have caused some mischief. It just goes to show features on the cover the new Ferrari how hard NASCAR is working and how much CONTENTS T488 GTE, which competes in the it is willing to experiment with its stockcars to WeatherTech United Sportscar Championship, produce even better racing. 5 STOCKCAR NEWS as well as the World Endurance Championship We also look at the New Zealand Sprint NASCAR’s new Charter system for Sprint Cup (WEC). One of the key features of the new Car series and a company that produces high- teams; GM opens new engine race facility; plus Ferrari is its front splitter, which is raised specification powerplants, Hartley Engines. an update on who’s gone where for 2016 through the middle in order to aid the driver For those interested in the World Endurance with pitch sensitivity, which was a particular Championship and Le Mans, you might 8 X-3 TAKES THE NEXT STEP issue of heavy GT racecars in general, and with recognise the Hartley name; Brendon Hartley NASCAR continues its investigation into the the Ferrari in particular. won the WEC last year and the company is next generation model; looking at front splitters Present at the ‘Roar before the 24’, the test owned by his brother, Nelson. Kiwi racers are and cooling on its experimental stockcar day at the start of January for the Daytona 24 more prone to building their own than buying hours, was Eric Jacuzzi, senior aerodynamicist/ in from abroad, due to the country’s remote 16 HARTLEY ENGINES vehicle performance engineer at NASCAR, who location, and the results are fantastic. Nelson Hartley’s New Zealand-based company has led the development of the next generation Finally, Danny Nowlan looks at how and its home-grown 900bhp engines, built for NASCAR through the X-3 programme. Eric simulation can help to set up a car even when the hugely popular Kiwi Sprint Car series was amused to see that Ferrari had reached there is no baseline data available, and thus put a similar conclusion to him, and explains in the team and car into the right ballpark before 22 DANNY NOWLAN these pages why he opted for the raised central it has turned a wheel, greatly accelerating the Our man explains why it’s a fallacy to assume splitter configuration, and what the drivers test programme. Meanwhile, Ricardo Divila that without baseline data simulation is made of it in testing. If you flick through to ponders the ethics of motor racing; who really impossible, and tells us how it should be done page 8, you will find Eric’s assessment of the does decide what is legal and what is not? splitter, how NASCAR is looking at cooling, We hope that you enjoy this latest edition of 31 STRAIGHT TALK and how a new rear aero configuration might Stockcar Engineering. Ricardo Divila contemplates the importance of ethics in racecar engineering, and why the decision to cheat, or not to cheat, is all yours

Produced by The Chelsea Magazine Company

STOCKCAR ENGINEERING 14 - FEBRUARY 2016 - www.racecar-engineering.com 3

STOCKCAR - NEWS

NASCAR Sprint Cup teams secure greater stake in the top tier series

NASCAR has introduced a franchise-style and the team model as a whole, which is good NASCAR CEO and chairman Brian France ‘Charter’ system in its flagship Sprint Cup for NASCAR, our fans, drivers, sponsors and said: ‘[This] represents a landmark change to Series, with the aim of instilling long term the thousands of people who we employ. the business model of team ownership in stability while also giving teams a bigger ‘NASCAR and the teams share a desire to NASCAR. The Charter agreements provide say in how the series is run. preserve, promote and grow the sport and nine years of stability for NASCAR and the Teams have been pushing for some kind ultimately produce great racing. These common teams to focus on growth initiatives together of franchise arrangement since the 1990s and goals served as the foundation for discussions with our track partners, auto manufacturers, the governing body has now granted 36 teams and helped bring us to this agreement.’ drivers and sponsors.’ Charters, which will last for nine years. A chartered team – which refers to a single racecar rather than the organisation that runs the car – is guaranteed a slot on the grid for all NASCAR Sprint Cup races. The maximum grid size has also been reduced for this year, to 40 cars from 43. This is not just about guaranteeing entries, though, and the teams will also to have a much bigger say in the way the Sprint Cup is run with the setting up of a new Team Owner Council. NASCAR says the system will mean that chartered teams will be rewarded with more predictable revenue over the nine years of the agreement. It added: ‘Along with improved financial certainty, the new framework is designed to increase the long-term market value of teams and provide the ability to plan farther ahead with existing, new and prospective partners.’ The Charters are also transferable, which will also help to boost the long-term value of individual Sprint Cup entries. Rob Kauffmann, co-owner of (which has Charters for its No.1 and No.42 cars), a man who has been instrumental in the negotiation of the deal from the teams’ standpoint, said: ‘The new Charter programme NASCAR Sprint Cup teams have gained a measure of financial stability and a greater say in how strengths each of our businesses individually the sport is run thanks to the implementation of the new Charter system in the top tier series

STOCKCAR - BRIEFLY

One very visible rule change for the up the car inspection areas with the A smaller intake restrictor plate will the end of last year. It is built by Joe NASCAR Sprint Cup in 2016 is that help of computerisation, following be used in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Gibbs Racing’s head engine builder all tools used to adjust the rear track issues with laser inspection last year. Series at Daytona for the annual Mark Cronquist, who has also formed bar via the jack screw through the However, the initial inspection on 500 and its associated races. The his own company to make and sell rear window during pit stops must race weekends will be shorter. four holes will reduce in size by powerplants for the programme. now be painted yellow. 1/64th of an inch. The second-tier NASCAR Xfinity and BJ McLeod will enter Following the season opening Truck Series championships will to NASCAR Truck Series teams will two cars in the NASCAR Xfinity Daytona events NASCAR is take on a Chase format similar to have the option of using a spec ‘Crate’ Series this year, using racecars and experimenting with shorter garage that used in the Sprint Cup Series, engine starting with the race at the equipment purchased from Roush area opening hours, but some starting later this season. Both series counter Fenway Racing. The team has longer inspection periods, during will adopt a seven-race Chase format in May. The ‘Delta Engine’, as it’s previously competed in a smaller this year’s Sprint Cup Series. An in September, to determine the series being called by the teams, underwent capacity in the Truck and NASCAR effort is also being made to champion in an elimination format. some testing in race situations at Series.

STOCKCAR ENGINEERING 14 - FEBRUARY 2016 - www.racecar-engineering.com 5 STOCKCAR - NEWS

General Motors opens new RACE MOVES race base for JD Gibbs has joined his father as co-chairman of , with bother also joining the NASCAR team as vice-chairman/chief operating powerplant development officer. Meanwhile, JGR 20-year-plus veteranDave Alpern has been named president, and former crew chief has opened the engine builders, engineers and Wally Brown competition director. doors to its all-new GM Powertrain other support staff. Performance and Racing Center – a GM’s Performance and Racing team Dave Rogers, long time crew chief for state-of-the-art facility specifically is responsible for developing engines for at Joe Gibbs Racing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series designed for the company’s race NASCAR, NHRA, IndyCar, IMSA and has been moved in to the same role for driver Carl engine programmes. other racing series. Edwards, while Mike Wheeler will become crew The new 111,420sq.ft facility is ‘We race to win and learn,’ said Dan chief for . connected to GM’s Global Powertrain Nicholson, vice president, General Engineering Center and is part of a Motors Global Powertrain. ‘This , who spent three years with JGR and $200m investment at the Pontiac, new facility offers unprecedented served as crew chief for last season, has , operation. opportunities to connect our racing returned to in the newly created The Racing Center has been relocated engineers and powertrain engineers, role of vehicle production director, where he will oversee from Wixom, Michigan, to the Pontiac integrating their knowledge to give manufacturing of its fleet of racecars, which includes the Campus, bringing together under one our racers an edge on the track and our four-car team and its customer cars. roof an additional team of nearly 100 customers better vehicles on the road.’ Jim Campbell, GM US vice has moved from an engineering role president of Performance Vehicles and on the JGR Sprint Cup operation to lead its No.20 Xfinity Motorsports, said of the new facility: Series, driven by , while Scott Graves, who ‘ earned six manufacturer and has left , will tend the No.19 Toyota, five driver championships in 2015, and working with its driver Daniel Suarez. we are carrying that momentum into 2016. This new centre is a valuable tool Tim O’Brien has been hired as engineer for the in developing powertrains with the right 88 Chevrolet of Jr at Hendrick combination of performance, durability Motorsports – O’Brien last worked at lead engineer at the and efficiency to help our drivers and now closed Michael Waltrip Racing. teams win races and championships.’ The new facility incorporates Richard Petty Motorsports has announced that Chris the latest engine assembly, engine Heroy has joined the organisation as crew chief for the testing and calibration equipment. The No.9 Ford, replacing Kevin ‘Bono’ Manion in the post. connected layouts of the engine assembly Heroy, a former Hendrick Motorsports engineer, last and testing areas are designed to enhance worked as crew chief while he was at Chip Ganassi Racing. workflow, making it easier for the eight dedicated performance and racing engine Veteran Sprint Cup Series crew chief Kevin Manion builders to retrieve parts, build engines (see above) has joined Motorsports as crew and move them to the dyno cells. chief on its NASCAR Truck Series entry. There are 10 all-new engine build bays – eight in the engine build room and Brian Wilson has moved from an engineering role to two in the prep area to facilitate quicker that of crew chief for Team Penske in the NASCAR Xfinity transfer to dyno testing and other Series, working on the No.22 Ford, which will again be validation areas. Each 120sq.ft bay has driven by Penske’s Sprint Cup drivers in 2016. an air drop for powered tools and access to an overhead crane for easy loading Through an agreement with partner team Roush Fenway on the build stands. Engine builders Racing, will crew chief the Front Row will also use specialised tools, such as Motorsports No.34 NASCAR Sprint Cup Ford driven by programmable torque wrenches ,to help this season. Meanwhile, ensure consistency with the engines. will replace 17-year RFR employee Osborne as crew chief Engineers and builders also have for on the No.6 Ford. access to over 30 machining tools, including nine CNC machines. The Jay Robinson’s has taken over the staff can also make use of a 3D printer, majority of assets and equipment of Hillman Racing’s for constructing new or modified NASCAR Sprint Cup team, and has re-hired most of its Jim Campbell, GM’s US motorsport boss, components. There are also four state- staff, including former team ownerMike Hillman, to has said the new Powertrain Performance of-the-art AVL engine dynamometer oversee the operation, and crew chief Mark Hillman. and Race Center will help GM win on track cells at the facility.

6 STOCKCAR ENGINEERING 14 - FEBRUARY 2016 - www.racecar-engineering.com progressive braking Leading the way in braking innovation

© 2015 Joe Gibbs Racing, Inc. Toyota trademarks used with permission. ®/TM/© Mars, Inc. and its affiliates. Used under license 2015.

Rounding off a year of success on track, road and off road, 2015 saw Alcon brakes help Joe Gibbs Racing take the NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship – a first for Toyota Racing - with Kyle Busch at the wheel.

Alcon constantly push the boundaries on caliper, disc and actuation technology and new materials. So whether you compete off-road or on the track, you can rely on Alcon’s expertise to help you win.

Contact us today to see how Alcon can help with your brake or clutch requirements.

HEAD OFFICE UK +44 (0)1827 723 700 www.alcon.co.uk TECHNOLOGY - NASCAR AERODYNAMICS NASCAR’s air force The NASCAR R&D team spent the latter part of 2015 tweaking and testing its X-3 test chassis. Here’s the inside story from one of its top aero experts By ERIC JACUZZI

he NASCAR R&D team capped package for Homestead, and the subsequent speed for a NASCAR Sprint Cup car. Previous off a busy 2015 by visiting track test plan revolved around validating that track tests (which were repeated and validated) Homestead-Miami Speedway on the aero improvements in the wind tunnel were showed that sideforce and a large positive yaw December 14th and 15th to give manifested out on the race track. moment are six times as potent as downforce our experimental ‘X-3’ car its last on an average intermediate track. And we know Ttrack outing for the year. We had returned Revelation in from our CFD studies and anecdotal evidence from Kansas Speedway in mid-September with Testing in Kansas back in September yielded that sideforce is highly variable – and never in a fresh ideas to study before the Homestead a major shift in the approach to aerodynamic benefi cial manner to the following car. test, with a renewed focus on driving the aero sideforce levels and their eff ect on the aero yaw To recap on on some terminology here, the sensitivity of the package even lower. A few moment of the car. As mentioned in previous ‘crossover point’ is essentially the yaw angle hundred CFD runs later and many hours in articles (see Racecar V25N11), lateral sideforce where the front and rear sideforce equalise, the wind tunnel resulted in a heavily revised is the most sensitive aero force to lap time and making the yaw moment zero.  is is an

8 STOCKCAR ENGINEERING  - FEBRUARY  - www.racecar-engineering.com of 4.5 to 5.5 degrees of sideforce crossover, well within the range of chassis slip angle. Typical chassis slip angles for a 2016 car are shown in Figure 2. Note that the slip angle We know from our CFD bounces between three and four degrees, with NASCAR’s a moment of oversteer on entry into Turn studies and anecdotal 3, where it reaches nearly six degrees with corresponding counter-steer! evidence that sideforce is  e interesting thing was that the drivers at the test preferred a car with a much earlier highly variable - and never crossover point at Kansas – something around air force two degrees.  is means that crossover range in a benefi cial manner is exceeded very early on corner entry and is a non-factor throughout the corner.  e drivers to the following car commented that it was better when there was no aero help at mid corner, rather than having something that was varying with chassis slip angle in the normal range.  ey preferred to drive the car strictly off the downforce and mechanical grip available, rather than contend with the yaw moment varying.  is means sideforce and aerodynamic yaw moment were removed from the equation – exactly the intent when trying to deal with a very sensitive aerodynamic force in highly disturbed airfl ow.  e Kansas lesson resulted in a total shift in our approach to the car. We could basically eliminate our concern over struggling to get the yaw moment crossover point high enough, since all of the rear sideforce had been designed out of the car.  is opened up development resources to be put toward reducing ride height and pitch sensitivity as much as possible before the next track test, an eff ort that began in CFD as soon as the team returned from Kansas. Splitter design Our initial splitter design featured a 2in raised centre profi le with a rounded leading edge and fl at bottom profi le.  e splitter had similar overhang to the 2015 splitter used in the Sprint Cup Series.  e fi rst revised splitter reduced the ride height sensitivity compared to what we currently run, but exhibited NASCAR’s test car being put some pitch sensitivity that was undesirable. through its paces at the Windshear Around 200 CFD runs were dedicated to new wind tunnel in splitter iterations, with various throat heights and cambers tested until we arrived at the Homestead design. Using TotalSim USA’s OpenFOAM ride height changer allowed us to important yaw angle for driver feel, as exceeding with a small yaw moment. Substantial eff ort quickly run a 6-point ride height and pitch map the crossover yaw angle has dire implications was put into making the package have a yaw for each splitter design, so that the CFD process for handling (Figure 1). Rather than sideforce moment crossover greater than 3.5 degrees. closely mirrored the multipoint approach taken reassuringly pushing the tail back to the left due However, we discovered that this crossover when developing the car in the wind tunnel. to a positive yaw moment, the front sideforce point was not desirable from a driver’s  e major design diff erence with the begins to exceed the rear sideforce and causes a perspective. Even at the extremely low sideforce Homestead splitter is the camber and negative yaw moment, where the car wants to levels of the car, they were still able to perceive subsequent raising of the leading edge, up 1.5in spin in a counter clockwise direction. a shift in car handling when the chassis slip when compared to the original design.  e As discussed in the aforementioned angle moved between three and four degrees, outer portions of the splitter were shortened November issue of Racecar Engineering, the which it frequently does throughout a corner as dramatically to reduce their importance, since performance philosophy of the car heading to the driver makes steering corrections. With the they are frequently damaged when coming Kansas was to make a very low sideforce car 2016 rules package, racecars will be in the range on and off pit road. Overall, this was quite an

STOCKCAR ENGINEERING  - FEBRUARY  - www.racecar-engineering.com 9 TECHNOLOGY - NASCAR AERODYNAMICS

interesting process as we let the CFD guide the design, but ended up at a solution that looks very similar to what is currently seen in the GT sportscar world. More aggressive designs were tested with more front overhang, but there are practical concerns to limiting overhang on Sprint Cup cars. Since the majority of our tracks are banked ovals with grass infi elds, spins typically Chassis culminate on those infi elds. Depending on the Slip Angle fi rmness of the ground and the angle of entry, Region the splitter can trip on the ground and cause massive damage to the front of the car. Of course, damage can happen with or without the splitter, but it was observed at Kentucky Speedway that a major practice spin did not result in damage as severe as would be expected, especially considering the amount of rain that the track received that week. Figure 1: Yaw moment crossover point comparison with chassis slip angle region indicated Crucial component From CFD, we know that the current splitter design contributes around 25 per cent to the total downforce of the car, on a component that can degrade heavily over the course of a race. Added to that is the fact that such a sensitive, powerful component is located as far forward of the centre of gravity as possible, naturally leading to the car’s feel and performance being heavily biased around the splitter. Reducing the total contribution of the splitter to a bare minimum was a defi nite design priority in CFD.  e Homestead splitter is worth around 10 per cent to the total car downforce, a major change from the typical range we have run in.  e results are plotted in Figure 3. After running the various splitter designs Figure 2: Chassis slip angle and steering input for a 2016 NASCAR Sprint Cup stockcar through a 6-point ride height and pitch change CFD map, a design was settled upon and built in carbon and tested at Windshear. Results were in line with CFD expectations and a soft stall was observed from 3/8in to one inch of front ride height, shown in Figure 4. Total downforce showed a similar fl at trend at around 1/2in of ride height when using full length skirts. Interestingly, full length skirts were much more consistent in ground sensitivity, even when they were at high ride heights.

Temperature Issues Homestead splitter design (above) One area where the NASCAR Sprint Cup cars and the Kansas version (below) are second to none is under-hood temperatures. A unique (if not a touch archaic) feature of all three NASCAR series is that while the radiator inlet is permitted to be ducted to the radiator, there is no duct allowed to expel the heated air. Since the under-hood region is open to the ground and is the lowest pressure region on the entire car, other than the splitter, allowing this radiator air spoils the downforce we have created.  is is why in qualifying

10 STOCKCAR ENGINEERING  - FEBRUARY  - www.racecar-engineering.com Around 200 CFD runs were dedicated to new splitter iterations with various throat heights and cambers tested

sessions cars run tape completely covering the radiator inlet on the front fascia, blocking cooling airfl ow. In order to make another run either in the same qualifying session or in the next round of qualifying, teams must then cool the engine with ice water pumped from large pumping units.  is, of course, would not be the fi rst recommendation of an engine builder (or metallurgist).  e result is a major thermal shock to the engine block and internal components as heat is rapidly removed from the engine and cooling system. In NASCAR, downforce equals speed – and unfortunately, that means downforce also equals heat. It’s a similar story during the race – the engine and under-hood components are run The Homestead splitter running with a low ride height point at the Windshear wind tunnel as hot as they can to survive a race distance.  is drive to reduce airfl ow under the hood also applies equally to the brakes, with the rotors and pads being tortured at absurdly high temperatures even by comparison to other racing series.  e engine’s temperature itself is pushed to the maximum, with the headers emitting the most heat. Under-hood temperatures can reach 300degF, with engine water and oil generally around 230degF and 270degF respectively. Extensive development goes into making lubricants and engine and brake components that can be driven to higher and higher temperatures, leading to less air under the hood and greater temperatures. So what was originally a simplistic, old time, solution to car cooling design has now become a serious cost driver. Tyre implications Figure 3: Splitter downforce contribution with percentage of total downforce indicated A knock on eff ect of the extreme under-hood temperatures is the impact on the tyres. Not only are tyres tortured by convective heating from the super-heated brakes, with an ambient temperature of 300degF, but cooling of the tyres in the time between corners also becomes more of an issue. Tyre temperatures can approach 275degF at the contact patch under load in cornering. We know from Sir Isaac Newton’s law of cooling that the larger the temperature delta between a hot object and its environment, the greater the convective cooling that occurs in the same time span.  e question was, of course, could we make a substantial impact in this severe environment to help with the tyre temperatures?  e solution to the heat and downforce equation starts at the radiator. If we eliminate cooling air as a detriment to car performance and make it neutral or even advantageous, Figure 4: The Homestead splitter front ride height sweep performance is shown in orange engine temperatures could be reduced to a more friendly level.  e skilled fabricators at were able to build a sheet metal duct to move the exiting air out of the hood of the car.  e radiator was not

STOCKCAR ENGINEERING  - FEBRUARY  - www.racecar-engineering.com 11 TECHNOLOGY - NASCAR AERODYNAMICS

In order to make another run teams must then cool the engine with ice water pumped from large pumping units or repositioned to optimise the location or downforce, but it did allow us to see out on running the car in a stock 2016 confi guration. angle since the car needed to perform as both a the race track just what the impact of such a  is means standard tail off set and sideforce standard 2016 car and the experimental car. mandatory change would be. levels, 3.5in spoiler and the standard fl at splitter Wind tunnel testing showed a downforce and radiator pan design.  is gave us a solid gain of 175lbs by installing the radiator duct, The test programme baseline from which to judge the new car, and with approximately 75 per cent coming on the With the new test plan in place, two wind gave the driver on the day a feel for the track front.  is delta is comparable to the downforce tunnel tests were targeted prior to the track and racecar. Once this was accomplished, we gain by the car running in a full tape, qualifying test date of December 14-15 at Homestead- moved into the fi rst experimental package, condition. To eliminate this downforce gain, and Miami Speedway.  e fi rst wind tunnel shift consisting of the Homestead splitter and pan, force additional cooling air into the car, we ran was dedicated to the performance parts – the no tail off set, and a 3in spoiler. the brake inlet openings fully open, blowing air splitter, skirt, spoiler and radiator duct.  e Since a key goal of the CFD/wind tunnel directly on to the front tyres. next was dedicated to cabin air and cooling development of the splitter was reducing pitch Now, this is not optimal for drag or solutions. As we did at Kansas, the test began by and ride height sensitivity, aggressive ride height changes were repeatedly made.  ese runs consisted of establishing a baseline average ride height around the track, then increasing by 1/4in at a time to determine driver feedback and measurable lap time loss.  is magnitude of ride height change is dramatic and would represent a major loss of performance for the current car.  e current splitter and pan design used in 2016 forces teams to balance an average ride height in the corners, targeting around a half-inch for optimum performance. However, this becomes problematic for several reasons.  e most obvious is that tracks vary greatly in their roughness; Homestead-Miami is fairly rough and has several points where the splitter strikes the track.  is, of course, impacts car feel to the driver and damages the splitter, degrading its performance via surface damage. If the splitter strikes the track hard enough, it Top view of a standard radiator exit is shown here. The air exits the radiator and dumps can cause the racecar to understeer as the car into the low pressure under-hood region, thus spoiling downforce. Note that the has essentially beached itself on the front end, underside of the car is open to the ground (in this case, the metal of the surface plate) removing grip from the tyres. And needless to say, the downforce contribution of the splitter is lost when it’s dug into the track. Tyre change e ects  e second reason a target front ride height of a half-inch is problematic occurs after any tyre change. Tyre warming is banned in NASCAR, so tyre pressures are set cold and must build over the course of several laps. Typical right side tyre pressures are around 45psi cold and 60psi hot, while the left side runs much lower pressures of around 20psi starting and around 40psi hot.  is dramatic increase in tyre pressures changes the rolling radius of the tyre. So, on a restart, the splitter of the car could be dragging on the track and causing mayhem with handling, while a few minutes later the splitter gap is too high and the car is not generating enough front downforce. Teams can make front ride height adjustments during a race by putting packers in the shock, which typically adjusts the front ride height by as little as 1/32in.  at is The radiator exit duct design gave a downforce gain in the Windshear tunnel of 175lbs how sensitive splitter gap is currently. During

12 STOCKCAR ENGINEERING  - FEBRUARY  - www.racecar-engineering.com FA_Ad_210x297_WF_2015_out.indd 1 2/18/15 12:25 PM TECHNOLOGY - NASCAR AERODYNAMICS

The splitter and pan design used in 2016 forces teams to balance an average ride height in the corners the ride height changes, the driver would make to have changed much between runs.  is was under-body fl ow, eff ectively choking the a four lap run at the baseline ride heights, then a major indicator that the soft knee (gradual exit. In the wind tunnel, nothing strange come in to the pits and the change would be compression) observed in front downforce at was noted during the testing of this package. made in a few minutes, so the tyres retained the wind tunnel was valid. However, when the ride height change runs temperature and pressure. Upon returning to were made, some strange eff ects started the track, he was instructed to make two laps Ultra-low downforce to manifest themselves. without adjustment then use the electric track Not all the aero changes went precisely as When we raised the front ride height 1/4in, bar adjustment if he felt it necessary. planned. We attempted to run an extreme low lap times shot up dramatically and the driver With the car in the 2016 stock confi guration, downforce package (1100lb/f at 200mph) by adjusted the track bar on the fi rst lap. Raising it he adjusted the track bar frequently each time extending the tail of the car down toward the a further 1/4in made the car even more prone a ride height change was made. With the new ground, as shown in the picture below. Lowering to oversteer – or loose, in NASCAR parlance. splitter, he did not adjust the track bar at all the tail reduces downforce by disconnecting Raising the front of the car should have caused and even remarked that the car did not seem the low pressure area behind the spoiler and the a loss of front downforce, not rear. We removed this package and went back to our main package, and the eff ect disappeared.  e only conclusion we have been able to draw is that the extended tail must be trapping under-car fl ow under the tail, causing an intermittent loss to rear downforce.  e radiator duct was introduced on the beginning of the second day along with the opened fascia venting.  e reduction in temperature under-hood was quite dramatic, with the temperature dropping under 130degF under-hood, versus the 220degF seen with the current confi guration. Tyre temperatures showed a marked drop as well, with the left front showing an average of 50degF cooler.  e hardest working tyre on the car, the right front, averaged around the same temperature over the course of the entire run. However, a more detailed look shows that while peak temperature attained later in the run was around 250degF, the cooling down the straights was much more pronounced, dropping tyre temperatures to 180degF before entering the next turn and starting the process over. The fi lled-in tail section is shown in grey. This tuning tool allowed a major reduction in downforce but led to some strange transient behaviour once the car was on the track The next step  e project has now matured to a point where it is time to produce a few copies of the car and head to the track to evaluate their performance in a pack. Many in the industry were sceptical (and some remain so) that a car lacking in sideforce and very low in downforce would be drivable.  anks to the hard work of the NASCAR test team, and Richard Childress Racing’s fabrication and engineering teams, we have shown that this is not the case.  e latest aero package requires the driver to be heavily involved in getting the car around a corner – just what fans of the series want to see. It invites drivers to push the boundaries of the car more often with longer braking and throttle application zones, inviting the possibility for more errors. Most of all, it should eliminate aerodynamic sideforce from the equation and push aero sensitivity as low as possible given the Long run temperature comparisons with the test car produced some interesting results constraints of the current car architecture. SE

14 STOCKCAR ENGINEERING  - FEBRUARY  - www.racecar-engineering.com

TECH PROFILE - HARTLEY ENGINES Power house While his brother’s made a career out of driving in the WEC Nelson Hartley has been making stunning racecars and awesome engines By DR CHARLES CLARKE

Nelson Hartley’s Sprint Car in action in New Zealand. It might look a little agricultural but this racecar is a very impressive piece of engineering

t’s difficult to write up a New Zealand there is prodigious output as well. Hartley runs curve and that now the machine is producing motorsport story without resorting Hartley Engines and Motorsport with his father beautiful components to satiate the colossal to cliches and hyperbole about good Bryan (himself a Kiwi motorsport legend) and a appetites of the Sprint Car and Superstock old-fashioned Kiwi ingenuity. But that’s very small team of employees. community in New Zealand. because it’s true. Getting on with it and Nelson Hartley actually makes almost all The workshop is a petrolhead’s Aladdin’s Igetting the job done in a timely fashion is of the components for his high performance Cave, with all manner of classic engines and simply part of the Kiwi DNA. But this is much engines, including the pistons in some components scattered around in various more than a make do and mend mentality. It’s cases. He is a self-taught SolidWorks and states of disassembly. Classic engines include a because New Zealand is so far from everywhere, MasterCAM user who uses his models to drive custom single overhead cam Ford Kent unit so the first option always considered is: ‘Can a NZD$400,000 (USD265,000) Centroid 5 Axis that Nelson made when he was still at school. we make it?’, rather than ‘Can we buy it in from machining centre brought in from the USA. Bryan is the local BDA king and legendary somewhere and wait for it to arrive?’ By making There are many anecdotes about the challenges Bonneville Mini tuner, so there are various it, you control the outcome. posed by integrating an American milling versions of pre- and post Ford based twin cams In the case of Nelson Hartley – big brother to machine into the Kiwi psyche. Suffice to say scattered around the workshop, too. Brendon, the 2015 WEC champion for Porsche – there was a steep and entertaining learning Hartley Engines develops and produces

16 STOCKCAR ENGINEERING 14 - FEBRUARY 2016 - www.racecar-engineering.com Hartley has eliminated the chrome moly frame in front of the driver and made the engine a stressed part of the Power house chassis, just like in F1

The front beam from the Hartley Sprint Car is typically rugged

This is where the engine sits – the V8 lump pumps out somewhere in the region of 900bhp

Hartley has fabricated an aluminium glu-lam monocoque box section in front of the engine which holds the front suspension and houses oil reservoirs for the dry sump

The CAD design for the Hartley Tool path showing custom bulkhead. Hartley designs on SolidWorks and the company Sprint Car’s robust front upright uses a Centroid 5 Axis machining centre – all part of a decidedly hi-tech approach

incredibly powerful engines with an attention says Hartley. ‘About the only pieces we could ‘I would love to do more high-end stuff like to detail that would not be out of place in F1 buy off the shelf were the oil pump and oil filter this,’ he continues. ‘Some would argue that or NASCAR Sprint Cup. And yet these engines housing and even then we had to design mounts we’re already there, in that we develop crazy are used in Sprint cars, Superstocks and Sprint to fit around the sump and cradle. The turbos horsepower from relatively small engines. I boats that compete, mostly in the hands of local were supplied by Steve Murch at MSE Turbos tend to regard this as high-end output, but it’s weekend warriors, rather than rockstar racecar NZ and [race boat maker] Stinger fabricated contained within a low-end casting, in that drivers. A recent example is a twin turbo, the exhaust manifolds to fit around their hull we are getting significant power from what is methanol injected V8 based on the Nissan VK56 and roll cage. We did everything else.’ A huge essentially a domestic V8 engine.’ engine block producing 1500bhp, where every number of hours go into a project like this, from There isn’t a whole lot of circuit racing in part is designed, machined and hand crafted, by the planning to the manufacture. ‘We couldn’t New Zealand that appeals to Hartley from a Nelson and his team. The only standard parts be more happy with the results,’ says Hartley. business standpoint. ‘We restore the occasional in this engine are the bare block, the bare heads ‘We would love to show you some pictures of classic car engine and do a bit of machining for (even these are heavily modified) and the tappet the inside of the engine, because it’s just as GT and sportscars. Most of that has open rules, covers; every single other item is bespoke. spectacular as the outside, but at some point so there is not a whole lot to be gained by doing ‘This engine has been quite a big project,’ we have to look after our intellectual property.’ more maths, you just simply make the engine

STOCKCAR ENGINEERING 14 - FEBRUARY 2016 - www.racecar-engineering.com 17 TECH PROFILE - HARTLEY ENGINES

One of Hartley’s creations stripped to its bones: the rough and tumble of both and the Superstock arena means there’s a little more emphasis on beefing up than in some other categories, but the cars remain fine-fettled racecars at heart, while performance is stunning

The three-spring set-up on the rear of the Sprint Car is a Hartley Hartley rebuilds and modifies its own shock absorbers, which modification to the more traditional design. Here the top spring controls is also a big part of its regular business. There is also a shock the racecar’s ride height and also allows more spring rate on heave dynamometer to calibrate damper performance on site

bigger and anybody can do that. On the flip high-end motorsport formula where I can up and prefers to condition his kinematics side, everything else is based around one-make build my own car without the need of NZD$1m with adjustable and innovative suspension series. Where we are strong is extracting the (USD663,000) and it’s open to anyone crazy – he rebuilds and modifies his own shock most out of a tight, but slightly open, set of enough to take part in it.’ absorbers and has a shock dyno to calibrate the rules. I guess that’s why my brother and I were The traditional Sprint Car chassis is a performance, which helps. so successful in .’ birdcage of chrome moly 4130 tubing with very The three-spring arrangement on the rear And then there’s Sprint Cars. This is a very little cross bracing, so that in its basic form, is an attempt to introduce some innovative American formula – the engines are about there is considerable chassis flex, under the suspension design into the traditional Sprint 900bhp, they have no gears or clutches – drive loads imposed by a 900bhp motor and very Car set-up. The top spring controls the ride is straight from the crankshaft to a truck sized large low-pressure ATV type tyres. height and allows more spring rate on heave (up differential and rolling starts are the norm. and down) and less on roll, instead of having Both front and rear has live axles. The wheels Flexing muscle car massive anti-squat angle changes. ‘When we are various sizes with the largest being on This constant flexing over a period of a season end up on a slick track you have to increase the back right hand corner (as the tracks makes the tubing work-harden, as the season the anti-squat angles using the trailing arms, are counter-clockwise) and they are usually progresses, so the torsional flexibility decreases which can make the turn-in unpredictable,’ staggered to allow for maximum traction round over time. So much so that drivers who like the says Hartley. ‘The jury’s still out on whether it a 12 to 14 second lap or less. flexibility of the early chassis have been known is a real benefit for a Sprint Car, but it could be Brendon drove Nelson’s Sprint Car once to make judiciously placed saw cuts in the useful on other forms of speedway car racing. and reckoned it was more of an adrenaline tubing in order to regain that flexibility. The concept is quite good and early results are rush than a Formula 1 car. And as Nelson puts Hartley, on the other hand, wants more encouraging. You can have some really odd it: ‘Sprint Car racing is the only international, predictability, so he’s gone for a stiffer set- spring rates from the rear of the Sprint Car by

18 STOCKCAR ENGINEERING 14 - FEBRUARY 2016 - www.racecar-engineering.com ‘It’s easy to roll a Sprint Car just by tipping it into a turn too aggressively’

Above: Hartley Engines Hartley’s engines are quite beautiful is all about big V8s creations and the company is well known producing big power. for its painstaking attention to detail One of its Sprint Boat units produces an engine a stressed part of the chassis as it is in amazing 1500bhp an Formula 1 car, but in this case it is the other Left: Hartley will make way around, of course. He has also fabricated an many of its parts in- aluminium glu-lam monocoque box section (à house – a common la the Lotus Elise chassis) in front of the engine, trait in NZ motorsport holding the front suspension and housing oil reservoirs for the dry sump. This has all been developed in a ‘lighten it until it breaks’ manner as it’s virtually impossible to predict the loadings on this kind of chassis to do any rigorous analysis. virtue of the kinematics of the car and the way matter whether you buy a Triple X, Maxim they lean into the turn.’ or J&J chassis, the engine plate from one will Superstock The wheels are often massively offset fit on the others and things like the front Hartley’s Superstock engines are also and they display huge amounts of stagger – torsion arms are interchangeable, too. ‘It’s impressive: ‘The Nissan VK56 and Toyota 1UZs anything from 8in to 16in difference in not so much standardisation, as the fact that that we prepare for Superstocks are a different rolling circumference of the rear tyres from everybody copies everybody else,’ says Hartley. proposition,’ he says. ‘These engines have a side to side. The wheels can be staggered as ‘This sort of thing doesn’t happen in other 4-litre capacity with a 10 to 1 compression ratio, much as 300mm or 400mm depending on formulas – you couldn’t put a Dallara upright which is extremely low, but we are able to get the track. ‘On a really heavy track, where on a Reynard, for example.’ over 500bhp from them running on a single there’s a lot of grip, the car will be staggered carburettor. This is an impressive amount of substantially, to discourage the tendency for the Improvised parts power from such a lightly stressed engine.’ car to roll over,’ says Hartley. ‘Unlike a circuit The same kind of reliance on tradition has The rules dictate retaining the 10 to 1 car, it’s very easy to roll a Sprint Car just by meant that some performance parts from the compression ratio, which is good because tipping it into a turn too aggressively.’ US are lagging behind other markets. ‘Parts it keeps the budgets down. As soon as you The Sprint Car category hasn’t changed from Europe or Japan are too expensive, so we increase the compression ratio everything else much in the last 20 years, unlike F1 or any other make our own,’ says Hartley. ‘Sometimes it’s must be strengthened and reworked so the costs open wheel circuit racing category which has difficult to get parts from the US, but in general can get out of control very easily. changed massively over the same period. ‘So the quality doesn’t meet our requirements. ‘It would be nice to have fuel injection on our approach to building Sprint Cars is to try For things like oil pumps and fuel pumps and these engines, but the rules dictate the use of and inject some modern innovation, while still relatively standard components we would buy carburettors,’ says Hartley. ‘Our Superstock working within the rules,’ says Hartley. ‘There is from America. But in terms of performance engines are pretty cool considering Superstock also a tendency to stick rigidly to the American parts, they tend not to change the designs, so is a full contact motorsport.’ traditions of Sprint Cars rather than to try and it’s much more cost-effective to develop our own Superstock racing is very popular in New improve things for the better locally. The live performance parts from scratch.’ Zealand, but, perhaps like V8 Supercars, the front and rear axles are a case in point, this The other Sprint Car design departure is concept doesn’t travel very well. Nelson also is really antiquated automotive engineering, that Nelson has abandoned the traditional sells kit sets for most of their lower to medium especially since independent suspensions and unstiffened birdcage and introduced significant budget engines. ‘There are a lot of people in New active suspension control are standard on many cross bracing. He has eliminated the chrome Zealand capable of bolting an engine together, domestic vehicles today.’ moly frame in front of the driver and, with but it’s hard for them to compete with what we In New Zealand Sprint Car racing it doesn’t custom-machined bulkheads, has made the can do, as far as the maths and design goes,’

STOCKCAR ENGINEERING 14 - FEBRUARY 2016 - www.racecar-engineering.com 19 TECH PROFILE - HARTLEY ENGINES

‘It’s more cost effective to develop our performance parts from scratch’

and patterns for casting. The printer has two heads so that he can print the support structure at the same time as the final component. ‘Some Nylons can resist 130degC and acetone, methanol, ethanol and gasoline, so I don’t have any problems with it melting from temperature or chemical attack,’ says Hartley. ‘It’s also machinable and tapable, so I can machine holes for inserts and if I rough it up, I don’t see why I can’t put two or three layers of carbon fibre on top, to give it some stiffness. For one or two parts it’s way cheaper than modelling it, generating tool paths and machining the final component from solid. Also for testing something on the dyno, it’s very much quicker.’ From start to finish Hartley prefers to be able to start a project and go from start to finish in one operation, rather Short oval racing is a popular and relatively low cost form of motorsport in New Zealand, and than get distracted. ‘I really like working with is also very hands on. Hartley not only sells its engines but also kits of its engine parts so that large assemblies in SolidWorks and when you other racers and teams can build their own powerplants. Pictured is LMP racer Brendon Hartley see that it all fits together, it’s really satisfying,’ he says. ‘I’ve developed a series of routines for says Hartley. ‘So it’s good for everyone if we is at the heart of the testing and recycling part the 5-axis machine to level things up and to put a lot of the important parts on the open of the business. Shock absorbers are pulled identify the orientation and start-point for market. It would be arrogant of us to expect apart and serviceable parts are reused – the the machining, so it’s very easy to set up any every competitor to buy an engine from us, so rest is scrapped. ‘The problem with working in machining process. It gives feedback in terms we make a lot of our parts available to anybody. the speedway business is that the budgets are of how out of line or level the component is It’s a win-win. By mass producing things not over the top, but everybody wants the best and makes adjustments accordingly. With the like brackets, pulleys, camshafts, even CNC equipment, so nothing is thrown away if it motorised beds and fixtures, once an engine ported cylinder heads, it keeps the cost down can be reused,’ says Hartley. block is located it can be machined from either for everybody, keeps more engine builders in The engine dynamometer is next door. side without doing further set-up. The Centroid business, and the sport prospering as a whole.’ ‘We try to organise all the engine dyno work 5-axis machine is designed for machining large Because the Superstock rules dictate that for a particular type of engine into one week. automotive components.’ the power unit must be normally aspirated Because dyno testing is so unpleasant with the Once an engine block has been probed and and fed from a four-barrel Holley carburettor, heat, the noise, the smell and the oil fumes – we the required bore size calculated the machine Hartley has designed a special carburettor try to get it all over and done with at once. So goes through and machines all the cylinders to adapter to connect a four barrel Holley to a we do 10 or 15 engines in a single week. The match. ‘Because of the requirement of about custom, flowed inlet manifold for the Nissan neighbours are very good and don’t complain 30 of each line of engines per season, I would VK56 and the Toyota 1UZ V8s. too much about the noise.’ typically machine 10 at a time and bulk order all When Hartley says he makes (or the other components, he says. ‘Unfortunately commissions) everything, he means it, Another dimension these NZD$55,000 (USD36,500) motors are including aluminium brake discs, flywheels, Hartley is now making his own 3D printer. He going into Superstocks, which will routinely camshaft and water-pump pulleys. But he bought one from the US, but it didn’t work drive into each other, and this can write off usually manages to incorporate a Mark 2 Ford very well, so rather than shop around until he these expensive engines in seconds.’ Cortina cam belt tensioner in there somewhere, found one that suited his purposes he decided Another typical job: a customer has some as they are still plentiful, they are economical to make one. In the printer that he bought, all blank forged pistons and wants a particular and most importantly they do the job. He has the parts that moved were heavy and all the profile machined into the top, again because plans to make camshafts and crankshafts when parts that didn’t, were not – so the reverse either the component is unavailable or it would he can make room for a CNC lathe. became the main design criteria. take too long to get. In this particular case the ‘When it comes to pistons, if we could forge The prototype is now in production and job consists of probing the sample piston on our own, we probably would,’ says Nelson. already printing production parts. The main the 5-axis machine, using the data to generate ‘But as that is well outside the means of most use for the 3D printer is induction manifolds a solid model, develop tool paths to the model engine builders, we typically send a drawing to and trumpets, which need to be made from and then machine the blank piston. ‘A couple of Ross pistons in America, or just use blanks and materials resistant to petroleum liquids. 3D hours work. You have to do things fast, because finish machine the top profiles.’ There is a big printing is also ideal for the shapes involved. otherwise you don’t get paid enough. We’re flow bench in the shock absorber dyno room, The overall sizing of the machine is often doing a million-dollar job for $100 budget. which again is surrounded by boxes of shock conditioned to accommodate a V8 inlet And a lot of the time we’re doing something absorbers in various states of repair. This room manifold. And also to be able to print plugs that nobody else can do.’ It’s the Kiwi way. SE

20 STOCKCAR ENGINEERING 14 - FEBRUARY 2016 - www.racecar-engineering.com • Techxperts™ On Staff To Answer Your Questions • Customer Service Representatives Available The Pro's Choice From 7:30pm To 5:30pm, for Thin-Wall Monday - Friday Bronze-Liners • Iron-Clad Satisfaction Guarantee and Tooling • Same Day Shipping • Secure Online Ordering At Goodson Bronze-Liners are www.goodson.com used by champion race teams • Crankshaft Grinding Wheels worldwide Made-To-Order In House Choose from liners and • No Minimum Order Size tooling in sizes ranging from 5.0mm to .375". • Spanish Speaking Customer Available as kits or as Service Representatives Are individual tools. Available • Resharpening Services For Get the inside story on how to remove CBN, PCD, Brake Lathe Tips and install Bronze-Liners. and Rotary Broach Tool Bits Visit Goodson.com today! • Diamond Dresser Resetting Services • 1-800-533-8010 • 507-452-1830 • www.goodson.com TECHNOLOGY - OVAL SIMULATION

Simulation tells you about a car long before you do any sensitivity analysis

In the groove at Daytona. Simulation is as much use for dialling in stockcars to run on ovals as it is for cars on road courses Speedway Simulation Simulation has been a trusted tool in road racing for many years, but not quite so popular on the oval scene. Yet these techniques and packages have much to offer round-track racers By DANNY NOWLAN

22 STOCKCAR ENGINEERING 14 - FEBRUARY 2016 - www.racecar-engineering.com acecar simulation has been used in the simulation becomes even more critical, because it allows road racing community for years. It first you to fill in the blanks well before you go racing. started appearing in the late ’90s in Let me give you a practical example. When I was pseudo static forms, and has since evolved working as a performance engineer in A1GP we went to into full fire-breathing, multi-body tools Kyalami in South Africa. The last time Europeans had Rsuch as ChassisSim. A lot of valuable lessons have been raced their in anger was in the early ’90s. Consequently learned and where it has been applied correctly the there was no usable data. Using a simple track model results have been stunning. While the uptake of this generated from rFactor, and one of our baseline models technology in oval racing has been slow, the great news where we were able to establish some basic metrics and is all the lessons learned in the road racing community sensitivity studies, got us in the ballpark. Without that are just as applicable to oval racing. we would have been on the back foot. If you want to This is the first in a series of Stockcar Engineering learn how to do this, then read on. articles on how to get started with simulation for oval The first thing you get out of simulation is that racing. Its focus will be to show you what you get from basic correlation will give you a very good read on the simulation. One of the most understated benefits of vehicle parameters you should expect. As an example simulation is what it tells you about a car long before Figure 1 shows a simulation plot of tyre loads for a you do any sensitivity analysis. I have stated on many stockcar running on an oval. Due to confidentiality occasions that the lap times you get and the set-up I’ve had to remove all scalings. However, I can tell you trends is the full stop at the end of the process. What that this is from a super speedway. The traces to pay you get out of simulation is what it tells you about the attention to are the fourth and the fifth traces that car, and this is where the pay off is. show you the front and rear tyre loads respectively. However, before we get started, one misconception I This is gold dust, because you can now start to want to nip in the bud straight away. That is; if you don’t quantify what loads to expect from the car. This has have data, you can’t use simulation. This is not just tremendous knock on effects if you have to design bits incorrect, it’s actually a cop out. If you don’t have data for the car, as you have some idea of what the actual

Figure 1: Tyre loads for simulation of a stockcar on an oval – scalings removed for confidentiality purposes

Figure 2: Slip angle simulation of stockcar on a speedway; this information is a by-product of the tyre model

STOCKCAR ENGINEERING 14 - FEBRUARY 2016 - www.racecar-engineering.com 23 TECHNOLOGY - OVAL SIMULATION

Figure 3: Here’s a plot of simulated damper velocities for a stockcar – yet another benefit to be derived from using simulation for oval racing

Figure 4: Damper histogram of a simulated stockcar. This is very good at helping you find the balance between high and low speed damping

loads will be. This knowledge is invaluable. A One of the other benefits from simulation required will vary from car type. Where aero further spin off of using simulation is that it will – particularly transient simulation – is that it is important you want 30 to 35per cent give you some idea of what the slip angles are gives you a great platform on which to look at distribution in the low speed, and 20 per cent going to be. As shown in Figure 2. Due to the damper velocities. This is shown inFigure 3. for a more mechanical (non-aero) car. But please fact simulation needs to produce this data to The power of this is that you will no note these are just rough rules of thumb. feed information into the tyre model, you have longer need to make estimations when setting However, the key thing is that once you this as a very useful by-product. up the velocity range for your dampers. So, if have this matched up in a simulated model With this information you now also have a you’re contemplating big changes in geometry you can make all the changes you want. As a valuable tool to start dialling in the Ackerman and springs and bars, you’ll know straight away practical example I set this up for a colleague properties you want. You can dial this in using what damper velocity range to tune for. You who had to specify the damper curves for an tables such as the Ackerman properties in won’t have to make a guess. historic Porsche 911. From a baseline model we ChassisSim. This will help you dial in what The other by-product of this is that you’ll just changed the damper curves to achieve the you want from the slip angles. The other have a platform to tune damper histograms. damper histogram characteristics we wanted. by-product of this is that you can use it as an This has been a tuning tool used by the road When we ran it on track, it was four seconds a analysis tool to figure out why a particular racing community for years – typical results lap quicker. That said, this differential was due Ackerman setting worked like it did. Again, from it are illustrated in Figure 4. to the base damper specification being very there is nothing earth shattering in what we Where the damper histogram shines is with sub-standard. But this still illustrates the have discussed, yet there is a lot of subtle stuff its ability to help you tune the balance between power of this technique. that adds up to a profound effect. low and high speed damping. The percentages The other thing that simulation brings to the A by-product of this is that you can use it as an Ackerman tool

24 STOCKCAR ENGINEERING 14 - FEBRUARY 2016 - www.racecar-engineering.com Kiss Brake Bias Guessing Goodbye

“BrakeOMeter™ is Control your braking power with ultimate precision absolutely essential and confidence with the one and only BrakeOMeterTM for any serious racer dial. Get the power to know exactly where your bias at any level.” is set…and reliably adjust it for optimum balance in Dan Binks any situation. 630-627-5255 630-627-5200•Fax Author of “Making It Faster” and Crew Chief for Corvette Racing, Six-time Winner at Le Mans Job Title: Brakeometer Racing Ad Racing Brakeometer Title: Job Engineering Publication: Stockcar Insertion Date(s): 2/1/15 Order Number #: Stevens & Tate Inc.• 1900 S. Highland Ave. Suite 200• Lombard, 60148 Ave. Inc.• 1900 S. Highland Tate & Stevens Purchase BrakeOMeter TM today at www.BrakeOMeter.com Scan & register now. Colors: 4-color job #: BOM6017 SSTT Advert half page update.qxp_Layout 1 12/01/2016 11:01 Page 1 Size: 7.48” x 5.31”

Design and manufacture of high performance exhaust

REMOVABLE HEAT systems and thermal *** NEW PRODUCT *** SHIELDING management solutions. CERAMIC MATRIX COMPOSITES

SS Tube Technology Ltd Oxfordshire T: +44 (0) 1865 731018 E: [email protected] www.sstubetechnology.com DIRECT INSULATION COMPLEX FABRICATIONS SUPPLIERS TO F1, INDYCAR, TOURING AND SPORTSCAR, RALLY AND PERFORMANCE AUTOMOTIVE SECTORS

Proud Winners of The MIA Export Achievement Business Excellence Award 2014 TECHNOLOGY - OVAL SIMULATION

Figure 5: Comparison of simulated versus actual data for high downforce single seater. Simulated data is black and actual data coloured

Table 1 - The ballpark costs to get equipped with data-logging kit terrified of data-logging and the costs it incurs. (all prices are in US dollars) I can tell you right now this is a myth. If you are serious about getting proper chassis data some Sensor Unit Cost Quantity Total Cost ballpark prices are shown in Table 1. Damper pots $1000 4 $4000 What I have illustrated here should provide you with the basis of what we in ChassisSim call Three axis g sensor $1000 1 $1000 ‘the monster file’. The monster file is used by Steering sensor $500 1 $500 ChassisSim to reverse-engineer tyre and aero Dash $2500 1 $2500 properties, and can create a full circuit model including bumps and road camber. By the time you throw ancillaries in, worst party is a sanity check when things go wrong, about all this is that by using simulation we can case scenario you are looking at a total cost especially if you have access to data-logging. To identify where the discrepancy is and, more of $10,000. However, you can get started for illustrate, let’s consider the comparison of actual importantly, we can fix it. Then we have an a lot less. If an oval racing sanctioning body to simulated pitches for a high downforce open accurate aeromap we can use to set up the car. is reading this, I’d say that it’s worth opening wheeler, as illustrated in Figure 5. The key thing to all of the examples we a dialogue with companies such as Cosworth So that we are clear, front pitch here is the have illustrated here is this only needs baseline Electronics, Competition Data Systems, Motec, average of the front dampers and rear pitch correlation. If you have the speeds and the AIM and Magnetti Marelli to flesh this out. is the average of the rear dampers. As always steering in the ballpark you can start to get a Also, for God’s sake don’t be sucked in by the the scalings have been blanked out, since this lot of useful information about what the car whole single spec data-logging lie. It is a cancer is real-life data. Also, actual data is coloured is doing. As discussed, you can use simulation that has infected European motorsport, and it and the simulated data is black. The traces to get a really good handle on tyre loads, slip must be stamped out. Aggressively. to pay attention to are the third and fourth angles, damper and aero behaviour. Also, this In closing, the pay off from using simulation damper traces. As can be seen, going down the has all come before we have done a single set-up is it will help you quantify what the car will straights the correlation isn’t too bad. However, sensitivity study, and yet we have learnt a lot do well before you ever use it to dial in set-up in corners it’s a different story. The fronts about what the car is doing. changes. Basic correlation simulation will tell aren’t too bad, but the rear downforce was too On top of this, the other thing that you what loads and slip angles to expect. It will optimistic, with the simulated dampers showing simulation brings to the party is it’s a great also tell you about the damper behaviour of a higher reading than actual data. teacher of how to use data analysis tools the car, and if aero is important it will help you What Figure 5 illustrates is a hole in the properly to analyse car performance. This stems quantify it. All this has happened before you aeromap. What is happening is as we are from the simple fact that you can do a lot more have done a single set-up sensitivity study. cornering, since this is an oval, the car has a simulated laps than actual laps. Consequently, In the coming articles I’m going to show you large amount of normal load on it. This drops once you start to look at actual data you will how to set-up a model, how to create a circuit the ride height, choking the air flow under the know what you are looking at. This is invaluable. model, and explain some tips on how to work car, and this leads to a drop in downforce. This is Appropriate data-logging is not as when you don’t have data. However, for the why we have the simulated dampers increasing outrageously expensive as you think. I realise in time being I trust this has given you an insight more than the actual dampers. The great news most oval racing series the regulatory bodies are into how valuable simulation really is. SE Data-logging is not as outrageously expensive as you think

26 STOCKCAR ENGINEERING 14 - FEBRUARY 2016 - www.racecar-engineering.com 4 LEAF BATTERIES LTD UK Distributor Reliable - Completely Sealed and Maintenance Free Batteries * Non Hazardous Starter Batteries * Improved performance in extremes of temperature * High resistance to corrosion RT4.2s * High cranking power * Zero Maintenance

* Low self discharge RT3.7s * Extreme vibration resistance * Use in any orientation

Deep Cycle Batteries

YT4.2DC BT4.2 DC For an information pack call 01953 881 330 or visit our website www.optimabatteries.co.uk Credit Cards Accepted • Dealership enquiries invited

Stockcar Engineering Mar-16.indd 1 15/02/2016 11:21:52 COOL SOLUTIONS

EXHAUST INSULATING More Horsepower • Reduce under-hood and intake temperatures • Prevent burns

HEAT PROTECTION Protect sensitive components • Wire, line and hose protection • Prevent vapor lock

ReduceRESTORATION cabin temps • eliminate vibration dampen interior sound

CALL 419-962-4556 or VISIT ThermoTec.com for a FREE CATALOG! [email protected] ADVERTORIAL NASCAR success crowns a great 2015 for Alcon

hen Kyle Busch brought the No.18 Toyota home in first place Wat Homestead in November, and with this claimed the NASCAR Sprint Cup Championship, it crowned a hugely successful year for Alcon, the UK based specialist brake and clutch manufacturer – which also supplied many other champions during 2015. Having developed track-specific calipers in technical partnership with Joe Gibbs Racing since 2008, Alcon’s Gen 3 OSCA (Optimised Structure Caliper Architecture) caliper range features integrated cooling ducts along with Alcon’s latest (patent pending) rotor design that improves cooling efficiency, reducing the amount of cooling air needed by the brakes. All JGR cars run with the Alcon MAR8200 series low hysteresis master cylinders. Depending on the demands of the race, the JGR Toyotas can be fitted with a lighter weight package or a unique pad retraction system to eliminate off-brake drag. Alcon’s Gen 3 OSCA (Optimised Structure Caliper Architecture) caliper range features Global success integrated cooling ducts, while Alcon’s latest rotor (disc) design improves the cooling The NASCAR triumph follows earlier efficiency; both of them reducing the amount of cooling air needed for stockcar racing brakes successes in 2015, with Alcon adding another World Rally Championship (WRC), the World Championship, the Global Rallycross Championship (GRC), the Continental Tyre Sports Car challenge, the American Rally Championship, as well as the inaugural crown, to its many laurels. Alongside these achievements sits Alcon’s involvement in F1, where its components are competing right at the front of the field. ‘2015 has been a very strong year for us,’ comments Alcon sales director Jonathan Edwards. ‘Not only have we won some exciting business deals, but the successes of our customers in the various championships is something we are extremely proud of. It is a great reflection of all the hard work put in by the whole team at Alcon, both in the UK and USA, showing that their expertise and Kyle Busch clinched last year’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in a Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota professionalism really pays off.’ equipped with Alcon brakes. Alcon also won titles in the WRC, Formula E and Rallycross

STOCKCAR ENGINEERING 14 - FEBRUARY 2016 - www.racecar-engineering.com 29

STRAIGHT TALK - RICARDO DIVILA The only way is ethics In the final analysis whether you cheat or not is your decision

e way different senses blend to create zero sum game and the fighting can get more As far as engineers are concerned all this your consciousness is known as the ‘hard savage as the pot is not growing, unless the happens in the swirl above them. They are Tproblem’ in neuroscience. Thus what you owners allow more of the profits to trickle down more concerned about solving the day-to-day see, hear and infer from the life around you is to teams. This is currently the battleground problems. But I should not anaesthetise your said to colour your attitude and behaviour. between teams, governing body and the ethical judgment on how you play the rules, So it would not be illogical to conclude that franchise holder. Standing back from the never mind blatant cheating of bigger capacity work environments will ipso facto have some environment lest the pixels obscure the picture, engines or being underweight. defining characteristics created by the thought it all seems reminiscent of the libertarian ethos The ultimate behaviour of the team principal processes and culture of the participants. in Silicon Valley, ‘get mine’, walled off from and management tends to give the flavour of Diversity in a work environment breeds ideas by reality due to hermetic environment – much as the team, so it behoves on them to be ethical the interchange of different cultures or ways of in racing, but also playing for big stakes. in all parameters of their activities. As I have life, but one thing that stands out is that we are ‘Caesar’s wife must be above suspicion,’ said stated before, in racing (as in life) there is no all theoretically working to the same rules. Julius Caesar. In this vein one could bring in the condition as being half a virgin. You either And when anyone says ‘theoretically,’ whole structure of the FIA under scrutiny for the are or you are not. Likewise, even if uncaught they really mean ‘not really’, for different way the commercial rights were sold off, but this for cheating, you are a cheat. departments are working to different agendas. is now compounded by the FIA also owning part Ethics has not always governed engineering. The design department is trying to get the of F1, supposedly in the interest of financing One will just mention lead additives to petrol, different inter-related systems working its safety push. That seems to me to fail the CFCs and nuclear weapons. Engineering harmoniously to produce a quick car, and most elementary check for objectivity and students would seem to be imbued by work motor racing’s always glorified the ethos of impartiality, not to mention principles. Motor ethic rather than ethics, it not being part of the the unfair advantage. curriculum, and the sheer quantity of skills to be learned to use in today’s high technology Slippery slope domain, in constant change; as Noam Chomsky I subscribe to this, by having development stated: If you’re teaching today what you were breakouts in new concepts and interpretation, teaching five years ago, either the field is dead, which is close to gaming the system … but it is a or you are. It conspires to create characters slippery slope. Engineering can be exempt from versed in hi-tech but with low culture. Contrary cheating by adhering to the rules, but it does not to the humanities students, those who are mean the companies that pursue the sport, by In motorsport the temptation to bend active in causes and feeling for people at their undue influence on how they are framed, the rules can be hard to resist; but universities, valuable skills for their future do not manipulate the rules. engineers should base their decisions on jobs as waiters, baristas or civil servants, say The board that decides if they will invest ethical as well as mathematical criteria advertising or marketing at best, McDonald’s in racing will defer to marketing more than at worst, not to mention the absolute pit of engineering despite the mantra of ‘showing the manufacturers being embedded in this matrix the amoral press (Stockcar Engineering not technological prowess of the company’. of behaviour are beginning to reflect this, with included, of course, Ed). The repercussions in the business world the corollary of it seeping into motorsport. Who of bad corporate behaviour; such as the major pays the piper is always relevant? Machine-centric manipulation of the emissions in EPA tests, The Competition Directorate of the European Being less interested in people and more in will be with us for a long time. The general Commission is now looking at the operating machines does not mean you have Asperger’s, public is awakening to the fact that the whole principles of F1 at the behest of two of the but it helps. Ethics as a way of life does not manipulation of government and justice by smaller teams to ascertain the legality of inform you what stresses are in a wishbone corporations buying government through methods in light of EC rules on competition. or what is the mass flow through a radiator, financing campaigns and the subsequent It is not the first time; there was a similar review and is not functionally more useful than calculus nomination of Supreme Court justices does of FOM and the FIA in 1999. or programming, and as far as one can see have consequences; need one mention the This brought forced changes in the way does not impinge on behaviour; witness the effects of ‘Citizens United’ in US politics? things were done then. At the same time, current pickle of a major manufacturer, where And of the special interest groups that are there was the hurried setting up of the FIA expediency and corporate culture led to some gaming the government, business stands out headquarters in Switzerland, long known as the rather unpleasant consequences. first and foremost. Who can forget the mantra base for any endeavour that likes transparency Aristotle, the great Greek philosopher GM president and chief executive Charles and oversight … surely this had nothing to of antiquity, stated in his classic work, The E Wilson was misquoted on: ‘What’s good do with the fact that if you are based in any Nicomachean Ethics: ‘Freedom is obedience for General Motors is good for the country’, of the EC countries you can be subjected to to self-formulated rules.’ So you self-govern, justifying its procedures. some legal constraints and could be pursued guided by your in-built virtue, not fallible ones The sharing of the cake slices for those for any transgressions, but rather on its formulated by the society you live in, variable who have an F1 racing franchise is definitely a famous cuisine and its excellent weather. from culture to culture. SE Ethics does not inform you about the stresses in a wishbone

STOCKCAR ENGINEERING 14 - FEBRUARY 2016 - www.racecar-engineering.com 31 Untitled-92 1 22/01/2014 09:25