Aerofabb Competition Series Wing/Diffuser

[Lord_Flexington]

https://www.aerofabb.com/collections/competition-series-pre-order

Pre-order is officially live!

So for those of us who live for the High-G corners and anything race car. The team at Aerofabb finally dropped the first pieces to their competition series set.

I'll be absolutely running a full kit in the very near future. I've been waiting for someone to develop a kit like this ever since I saw the first TCR variant hit the tracks. Ran the prototype for years as there just wasn't anything available for us and the wait is finally over. Splitter is a few months out from what I know but the two pieces I was most excited about are finally here.

I'll be doing a review when I finally get my hands on it but for now they have all the photos, CFD data, and other useful via the link above. Really looking forward to having something bespoke rather than making things '"fit" the car. Oh and the swan neck variant just makes my day visually.

Next I just need a full undertray and skirts and this car will be fully aeroed out!

 

[JerseyDrew77]

I know what it's for and I'm sure it's funtional in that area but I'm just not a fan of the look for either one.

 

[gboticus]

I'll be grabbing the rear splitter/diffuser but as much as I love high-G corners I can't will myself to go in on a spoiler.

 

[averyislost]

https://www.aerofabb.com/collections/competition-series-pre-order

Pre-order is officially live!

So for those of us who live for the High-G corners and anything race car. The team at Aerofabb finally dropped the first pieces to their competition series set.

I'll be absolutely running a full kit in the very near future. I've been waiting for someone to develop a kit like this ever since I saw the first TCR variant hit the tracks. Ran the prototype for years as there just wasn't anything available for us and the wait is finally over. Splitter is a few months out from what I know but the two pieces I was most excited about are finally here.

I'll be doing a review when I finally get my hands on it but for now they have all the photos, CFD data, and other useful via the link above. Really looking forward to having something bespoke rather than making things '"fit" the car. Oh and the swan neck variant just makes my day visually.

Next I just need a full undertray and skirts and this car will be fully aeroed out!

I'm super down with the look of the rear diffuser, I definitely want to run it.
Any idea if running just the rear diffuser would have enough of an aerodynamic effect at speed to upset the balance without the front splitter? I know Verus markets their diffuser as working together as a "package" with their front canards.

 

[Lord_Flexington]

I'll be grabbing the rear splitter/diffuser but as much as I love high-G corners I can't will myself to go in on a spoiler.

Doooo it. I'm telling you its super fun. I don't regret it for one second. Plus it looks super cool (to me). I've been a racecar fan first and a production model 2nd.

I'm super down with the look of the rear diffuser, I definitely want to run it.
Any idea if running just the rear diffuser would have enough of an aerodynamic effect at speed to upset the balance without the front splitter? I know Verus markets their diffuser as working together as a "package" with their front canards.

I don't have the answer for that one. I've never experienced that personally. I'm sure it would do something but thats a question for their team. I'm betting its less negative in effect than just running a front splitter (which was super not fun)

 

[Mini7]

These appear to be well engineered.
Serious track rat territory. Or in your case competition. You definitely have to be committed to the cause if it’s a dual purpose car.

I’m interested to see the splitter design. It needs to be chassis mounted to be worth a crap. Makes a huge difference in front end stability and braking from higher speeds.

VIR requires high speed stability and grip through the high speed sections of track. Uphill esses, T10 and the roller coaster onto the front straight. That’s where aero helps. T1, lower snake and T12 requires good rotation through these slower technical sections. Loosen the car too much to make the slower bits faster, but makes you poop your pants through the high speed stuff.
Good aero balance makes both sections of track work.

 

[jmblur]

Not a fan of the abrupt bend on the diffuser. It's waaaaay easier to manufacture and design that way, but much harder to prevent boundary layer separation at the abrupt edge. Even doing a callendared bend over a larger length would be superior aerodynamically.

 

[El_bigote_AJ]

Not a fan of the abrupt bend on the diffuser. It's waaaaay easier to manufacture and design that way, but much harder to prevent boundary layer separation at the abrupt edge. Even doing a callendared bend over a larger length would be superior aerodynamically.

what bends are you referring too?

 

[jmblur]

This here. The diffuser is 3 flat planes with sharpish bends between. Flat plane diffusers are sometimes included in rulesets for various racing series in an effort to limit possible downforce (and reduce cost).

Ideally for aerodynamics the diffuser would also be as long as possible and probably have a sharp bend at the end as well rather than the raked section here, but that needs to be cfrd evaluated in the context of the car and wing.

 

[Lord_Flexington]

Right so I'm back!

Pandemic certainly making things super difficult.

Wanted to give some feedback on the competition series wing from Aerofabb.

At this point I've had the wing and diffuser as the splitter is still in development. (running the racebred splitter at the moment)

Why wings are functional has been covered many times before, so I'm here to explain the differences between my previous spec wing.

How the new setup mounts is really nice. Having contoured edges and easy to follow instructions was a big help. You do lose the the third brakelight which isn't ideal but its not really going to affect you on track or DD . (still pass all inspections)

The profile is CRAZY nice to see in person. Much wider than my OG wing with a good boost in stability along the plane.

Rich and his team made this one to comply with the different rulesets I encounter across competitions. Adjustment from 0* to 12* AOA is easy to do on the fly with the supplied hardware and again the fit/finish here is outstanding compared to the old rig. The mounting locations and brackets are just much better.

The diffuser was also easy to install and I need to mess with it more to get that final adjustment for height and clearing my (Currently bent) exhaust. One of the first things I noticed was how smooth the car is when flying along. I don't really notice the wing in straight line situations any more. Typically I could feel oscillations or some sensation of drag. The wing with diffuser mitigates that spectacularly.

The changes in AOA have some serious implications. 12 is awesome under braking but you certainly feel like a small child is sitting on the back of the car once you start going over 50mph. I probably won't run it at 12* unless its for a very specific reason (or cause it looks cool)

I haven't had time yet to go back to tracks I've raced at since the season was over as I got my hands on the unit.

Well worth the wait, super cool to see in person, and really happy the Aerofabb team reached out to me a few years ago to see if we could start this project.


TLR
Aerofabb Competition series is awesome.

 

[bobivy1234]

Which front splitter are you using? I know Aerofabb is coming out with a comp splitter but haven't seen details yet. Any other splitters I look at available now aren't track viable and more for looks except maybe Aerofabb's own v1 non-comp splitter.

 

[Lord_Flexington]

Which front splitter are you using? I know Aerofabb is coming out with a comp splitter but haven't seen details yet. Any other splitters I look at available now aren't track viable and more for looks except maybe Aerofabb's own v1 non-comp splitter.

At the moment i'm using a setup from Racebred Components.

S2000 brackets with a custom blade I had them make.

i've seen the new AF competition splitter its a nice looking bit of kit. Just needs a bit more testing before its ready for release. Looking forward to running it next season.

 

[Mini7]

At the moment i'm using a setup from Racebred Components.

S2000 brackets with a custom blade I had them make.

i've seen the new AF competition splitter its a nice looking bit of kit. Just needs a bit more testing before its ready for release. Looking forward to running it next season.

That’s a large front splitter. Are you still able run over curbs with the long front overhang?

Im also curious about the impact on your Vmax down the straights? VIR is my home track with 3-long straights (if you count the uphill esses). Trying gauge the drag penalty??

The rear splitter is a option for me. I’m not likely going to do any competitive events so the rear wing is out. I’m interested in the front splitter but that would create an aero imbalance. Grippy front and loose rear….Might not be to bad depending on how much oversteer. Likely to be high speed oversteer though.

 

[Lord_Flexington]

That’s a large front splitter. Are you still able run over curbs with the long front overhang?

Im also curious about the impact on your Vmax down the straights? VIR is my home track with 3-long straights (if you count the uphill esses). Trying gauge the drag penalty??

The rear splitter is a option for me. I’m not likely going to do any competitive events so the rear wing is out. I’m interested in the front splitter but that would create an aero imbalance. Grippy front and loose rear….Might not be to bad depending on how much oversteer. Likely to be high speed oversteer though.

Yea i pound the shit outta curbs lol. On big speed bumps or big changes on the street I change up the approach angle but for on track its not been an issue.

Idk how to properly gauge the penalty on drag, other than I'm much slower without aero, the speed I can carry into braking zones and corners + plus maintain is just huge compared to the drag.

From a seat of the pants feeling this slips through the air at a much better rate than my old setup (same splitter and old wing)

You can run a wing and not compete! I had the first wing a good year before i started doing HPDE/TA events.

Diffuser and splitter would be interesting. Though I think you would def have some high speed oversteer with basically nothing to counter it with.

SPlitter only sucks big time. just like doing a fSB just plows.

Just diffuser idk as I haven't done that.

 

[Waltari]

I've done about ten HPDE over the last few years with my MK7 and after upgrading power and braking, I'm finally to the point of looking at suspension and aero to try and help shave some more time. I could definitely stand to switch to coils to help with entry/exit speeds, but we've also got two straights at my home track (PIR) and the biggest thing I notice at around 90-100mph is the back end starting to feel a bit light and less planted. On the back straight I'm topping out at 125mph and about 115mph on the front straight. Wondering which aero pieces or combination might feel more settled at speed.