Photo: USPTO via AutoGuide
The Lamborghini Huracan Performance is one hell of a machine, blitzing the Nurburgring lap record away from the Porsche 918 Spyder. One of the bull’s secrets is Aerodinamica Lamborghini Attiva, a fancy name for a fancy active aero system. And boy, do aerodynamics help in setting blistering lap times.
Even if the C7 Corvette Z06 pushes the performance envelope with what General Motors calls “unprecedented levels of aerodynamic downforce,” that’s not nearly enough in this day and age. GM knows it too well if the enormous rear wing of the C7 ZR1 is anything to support this argument.
But fixed wings can only do so much, which is why General Motors went back to the drawing board and started tinkering with active aero trickery. Drawings unsurfaced from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office by the guys over at AutoGuide are proof of that, but a few questions still prevail.
“Why is a C7 Corvette featured in the patent drawings?” and “What sort of wheels are those?” are just two of those questions. I have my reservations about the ZR1 or the C7 per se getting this bit of kit, but then again, don’t forget that there’s a mid-engine Corvette due to hit dealership lots in 2019.
Whatever General Motors plans on doing with this technology, there’s no denying that linking the ride height to active aerodynamics components is the sort of thing next-generation performance models have to have. From the Camaro to the Corvette, there are lots of possible applications for this technology. But how do the aero bits in the patent actually work?
General Motors defines active aero components as “one of an adjustable spoiler, an air dam, a splitter, a diffuser, and shutter,” with any of the said parts located at the front or rear of the vehicle. “An ultrasonic sensor or a laser sensor” are also on the menu to detect the ride height of the car “via directly sensing the height of the vehicle body relative to the road surface.”
Then there’s a controller for the active aero system, which can receive information from an accelerometer about acceleration and braking. The peeps over at AutoGuide contacted Chevrolet about this patent filing and the possibility for the Corvette receiving it, and the reply was, “We have no comment at this time.”
But fixed wings can only do so much, which is why General Motors went back to the drawing board and started tinkering with active aero trickery. Drawings unsurfaced from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office by the guys over at AutoGuide are proof of that, but a few questions still prevail.
“Why is a C7 Corvette featured in the patent drawings?” and “What sort of wheels are those?” are just two of those questions. I have my reservations about the ZR1 or the C7 per se getting this bit of kit, but then again, don’t forget that there’s a mid-engine Corvette due to hit dealership lots in 2019.
Whatever General Motors plans on doing with this technology, there’s no denying that linking the ride height to active aerodynamics components is the sort of thing next-generation performance models have to have. From the Camaro to the Corvette, there are lots of possible applications for this technology. But how do the aero bits in the patent actually work?
General Motors defines active aero components as “one of an adjustable spoiler, an air dam, a splitter, a diffuser, and shutter,” with any of the said parts located at the front or rear of the vehicle. “An ultrasonic sensor or a laser sensor” are also on the menu to detect the ride height of the car “via directly sensing the height of the vehicle body relative to the road surface.”
Then there’s a controller for the active aero system, which can receive information from an accelerometer about acceleration and braking. The peeps over at AutoGuide contacted Chevrolet about this patent filing and the possibility for the Corvette receiving it, and the reply was, “We have no comment at this time.”
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