DeltaWing Announces First Wind Tunnel Test

DeltaWing LLC, of Indianapolis, which introduced its proposed chassis for the 2012 IZOD IndyCar Series at the Chicago Auto Show, today announced an important step in the development of its revolutionary car. DeltaWing will test its full size scale model in the state-of-the-art Windshear wind tunnel on April 6, 2010 in Concord, North Carolina. Windshear’s tunnel features a 180 mph rolling road which will allow the DeltaWing technical team to corroborate the computer simulation work they have been conducting over the past year.

“From the beginning of the DeltaWing project, the design of the car has gone through hundreds of iterations," said Ben Bowlby, Designer and Chief Technology Officer of DeltaWing LLC. “It is now time to put our full size model into the wind tunnel to validate the extensive computer simulation work that we have done. The Windshear facility is one of the best tunnels in the world and we are confident that the data we collect on the performance of the DeltaWing will support our CFD findings."

“One of our main goals with DeltaWing has been to dramatically reduce the aerodynamic drag versus the current generation car," said Dan Partel, CEO of DeltaWing LLC. “We have created a design that is about half the drag of the current generation car and that reduction will translate into high performance with far greater efficiency, much tighter racing and more over taking on the track. We are very excited to take this next step in our development process as we work towards having our running prototype on the track later this year."

Opened in September of 2008, Windshear’s 180-mph rolling-road wind tunnel is the first of its kind in North America, and only the third rolling road wind tunnel of its scale in existence. More importantly, it is the world’s first commercially available, full-scale, rolling-road wind tunnel of its type. The wind tunnel accommodates full-scale vehicles, and provides constant airspeeds up to 180 mph, with temperatures controlled to within 1§F. The high-tech rolling road is 10.5 feet wide by 29.5 feet long, and able to accelerate from zero to 180 mph in less than one minute. During testing, “through-the-belt" sensors measure the aerodynamic down force under each tire.

“The DeltaWing car is a tremendous breakthrough racing car," said Jeff Bordner, Windshear Site Manager. “We look forward to helping the DeltaWing team validate their extensive computer modeling in our industry leading wind tunnel"

Additionally, the Discovery Channel Canada will film the test for a special segment on their show Daily Planet, which will air during Earth Week and focus on how DeltaWing is changing the strategy for motorsports to be more sustainable and relevant with the passenger vehicles that are being developed for the future.

“We are excited about the opportunity to get a behind the scenes look at this emerging new technology," said Shannon Bentley, Producer, Discovery Channel Canada.