These days, you can't even design a car's ashtray without first running it through the wind tunnel to see how aerodynamic it is. Compare this to what was happening half a century ago when it was all more or less just guesswork, and you'll see how much the industry has matured.
Aerodynamics may be constraining designers and putting even more stress on the engineers, but in a world where efficiency and refinement are paramount, there's no other way around it. You need to manage the flow of air around your car, or you'll end up with something that handles badly, burns a lot of fuel, and is as noisy as hell on the inside.
However, a wind tunnel is a significant investment and one that is usually very well planted into the ground, so it's restricted to a specific place. If you want to test a car's aerodynamics, you need to get it to the test facility, and not the other way around. With car companies spread out all across the country and even the world, that can sometimes mean a drop in efficiency, and nobody wants that.
But if the mountain won't come to Muhammad... then the wind tunnel will come to where the car is. Ford has just announced it's built a mobile acoustic wind tunnel it can take pretty much anywhere. The structure is made up of two shipping containers, and it can be deployed and fully functional in just six hours. The new system will allow engineers to test the cars right at the plant where they're built, saving precious time and resources needed to have the vehicle delivered at the stationary wind tunnel.
Of course, it's not as complex as an indoor wind tunnel and it's mostly used for acoustic measurements - keeping wind noise under control at higher speeds. The two fans it comes equipped with can simulate speeds of up to 80 mph (130 km/h). Ford says it will use the mobile structure to reduce wind noise in the early production vehicles, and having the cars tested right next to where everyone involved in their development is will accelerate the development considerably.
Ford's mobile acoustic wind tunnel seems pretty low-tech, relying on floor markings to line up the vehicle and looking like... a pair of shipping containers. But it's what they can do with it that counts, and that's apparently a lot. As long as it's not windy outside, that is.
"Boy meets car, boy loves car, boy gets journalism degree and starts job writing and editing at a car magazine" - 5/5. (Vlad Mitrache if he was a movie) Full profile
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