Today we want to talk about the impact our cars have on the environment and we’ll zoom in on the aerodynamics. We’re almost sure nobody’s ever wondered how an aero kit could affect a... bat and yet here we are, providing an answer.
In order to assess this, we’ll use two aerodynamic approaches that have gathered decades and decades of fans. In the green corner (no pun intended), we have Porsche’s ducktail spoiler, while the orange corner is occupied by BMW’s “Batmobile” aerodynamic package. Both come from the effervescent 70s and, as you might expect, they were born on the racetrack.
Our little winged friend helps with the assessment of the two, as you can see in the illustration above. This comes from Guy Allen, an artist that knows quite a few things about cars. For those willing to go deeper into the visual matter, you should know this is an “episode” from the adventures of Felix Petrol, one of Allen’s fictional characters. Heck, this Felix is so cool, we may just adopt him as an imaginary friend.
As for the aerodynamic elements themselves, we’ll start with Zuffenhausen’s Ducktail. It was 1973 when Porsche decided to take the 911 from rally racing to GT motorsport. One thing led to another and the streets were gifted with the legendary 911 Carrera RS 2.7. One of its signature features was this Ducktail spoiler, which helped reduce rear axle lift from 145 kg (320 lbs) to 42 kg (93 lbs). Aside from this, the thing took the effective center of pressure towards the rear of the car, as well as providing better cooling for that boxer engine underneath.
Nowadays, you can still a Ducktail touch to the 911 and you certainly won’t miss it on the street.
The Batmobile nickname was given by roundel aficionados to the aero kit installed by BMW on the 1972 3.0CSL racer, which competed in the European Touring Car Group 2 - senior readers certainly remember the abundance of air time these racers enjoyed while out on the track, so the generous dimensions of the elements were truly necessary.
The CSL took home no less than six world championships and, thanks to homologation requirements, the 3.0CSL also made it to the street. While the image above is the type only aficionados know, the aero stuff on the CSL was made famous all over the world thanks to the fact that the first two BMW Art Cars happened to be 3.0CSLs.
PS: Looks like the bat and Batman have different opinions on BMW's kit...
Our little winged friend helps with the assessment of the two, as you can see in the illustration above. This comes from Guy Allen, an artist that knows quite a few things about cars. For those willing to go deeper into the visual matter, you should know this is an “episode” from the adventures of Felix Petrol, one of Allen’s fictional characters. Heck, this Felix is so cool, we may just adopt him as an imaginary friend.
As for the aerodynamic elements themselves, we’ll start with Zuffenhausen’s Ducktail. It was 1973 when Porsche decided to take the 911 from rally racing to GT motorsport. One thing led to another and the streets were gifted with the legendary 911 Carrera RS 2.7. One of its signature features was this Ducktail spoiler, which helped reduce rear axle lift from 145 kg (320 lbs) to 42 kg (93 lbs). Aside from this, the thing took the effective center of pressure towards the rear of the car, as well as providing better cooling for that boxer engine underneath.
Nowadays, you can still a Ducktail touch to the 911 and you certainly won’t miss it on the street.
The Batmobile nickname was given by roundel aficionados to the aero kit installed by BMW on the 1972 3.0CSL racer, which competed in the European Touring Car Group 2 - senior readers certainly remember the abundance of air time these racers enjoyed while out on the track, so the generous dimensions of the elements were truly necessary.
The CSL took home no less than six world championships and, thanks to homologation requirements, the 3.0CSL also made it to the street. While the image above is the type only aficionados know, the aero stuff on the CSL was made famous all over the world thanks to the fact that the first two BMW Art Cars happened to be 3.0CSLs.
PS: Looks like the bat and Batman have different opinions on BMW's kit...
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