Komotec Wing Announced - Option One

[alias23]

So as some folks may have seen KT had recently invested in R&D at Mira testing ideas, options, and designs for new aero.

This is their first option, a combined road/track wing which offers plug and play install and reversible back to standard.

http://komo-tec.com/Shop/en/Exige/MK3-Toyota-V6/Exterieur/Carbon-KT-Track-Rear-Spoiler-for-Exige-V6.html

Seems to have proven downforce capabilities and comes with a 'safe' for boot mounting line front KT.

This is the design @TBD has on his car and I hope when he gets time could take some real life shots from different angles as would love to see more of this wing. I'm in two minds about the profile hence the ask for more pics

Option Two the full track version will be chassis mounted and I believe have a straighter profile to match the wider width.

Further info hopefully in the coming weeks likely after their testing at Spa in March!

[Steve Banks]

So, when I asked about the wing, I was sent these. Apparently the wing is 3-4 weeks away from delivery. I too am a little unsure about the profile of it. 

Edited February 22, 2017 by Steve Banks

[NW76]

http://komo-tec.com/Blog/en/komo-tec-im-windkanal-von-mira-in-england/

More info on their Windtunnel testing ... sounds like there is a race pack in the works as well ...

[alias23]

Thanks for the additional pictures @Steve Banks did they confirm if those pictures where of the Race or Track wing profile? I know the track profile is the one to be mounted to the boot as per your pictures but that wing looks HUGE making me question was it a test mule car and the profile in the picture is of the actual Race wing. The end plates on your picture look a lot better than the ones I see on the KT website for the track wing.

@NW76 surely one of these wings is on your list to purchase next?

 

[NW76]

@alias23 how do you know?!? 

But my list is still long: short ratio gearbox, sport clutch, further weight optimization and of course aero ... but dont know the sequence yet...

The Exige is at KT at the moment for the installation of the AIM Race Display and Data Logging ... so its dangerous....

 

By the way: how much is it to rent a Wind Tunnel for a day? Cant be cheap...  I am quite impressed that they did go down that road ... they will have to sell a lot of Aero Packs to get an return on that Investment...

[French Frie]

yep, it makes the KT work serious, and their tests are very interesting, even on OEM features ... it so rare to have real numbers in this world ! BTW, do you remember Elise S1 was also tested at MIRA, and the result was the added lip on the rear bodyshell, which upset Julian Thomson who thought its design was better without it  !

Julian challenging for keeping its rear design : 

...but the first tests at MIRA weren't good : 

 

then prototype #2 was tested with added spoiler and at 1/1 scale : 

 

Edited February 23, 2017 by French Frie
pics added

[alias23]

1 hour ago, NW76 said:

By the way: how much is it to rent a Wind Tunnel for a day? Cant be cheap...  I am quite impressed that they did go down that road ... they will have to sell a lot of Aero Packs to get an return on that Investment...

I'm led to believe its circa £20 a minute!!!!!

Will you be going Track or Race @NW76 ?

[French Frie]

obviously, I'm not a big fan of these aero appendices (hence the roadster ) , but I must say that the KT wing looks muuuuuuuch better than the 380 wing  !

[NW76]

15 minutes ago, alias23 said:

I'm led to believe its circa £20 a minute!!!!!

Will you be going Track or Race @NW76 ?

Race  

[TBD]

I believe Komo-tec spent two days at MIRA and it was Daniel's father Heinz who led the analysis. BTW - there is some Formula 1 trivia in there - Heinz Koblitschek was Team manager for the rather unsuccessful F1 Team Eifelland in 1972 (https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Team_Eifelland_Caravans)

The wing in the picture in the first post is the Race wing (1450mm) originally installed on my car. This wing is wider than the rear lines and thus not road legal The wing that I have now has exactly the same profile, but ist only 1350mm wide and road legal. Considering the wind tunnel resulty the profile ssems very efficient.

[Hangar 111]

25 minutes ago, TBD said:

Daniel's father Heinz

Who is one of the nicest people you could ever wish to meet!

The thing with the shape/profile of the wing is that it is more efficient in drag vs downforce than a standard wing profile.  It's really good to have some real data to work with, so kudos to Komo-Tec who have done their usual thorough development (I'll roll out the chargecooler efficiency data in a more appropriate thread!).

Dave

[Stubox]

So being a thicky on matters aero, when fitting one of these high(er) downforce rear wings don't you need to rebalance with a bigger splitter/spats too ? 

[TBD]

For that purpose Komo-tec installs the Lotus Motrosport front splitter. As they explain in their blog, by doing so they retain the effective weight (load) balance front/rear.

[Bravo73]

They also discovered other issues (which couldn't be balanced):

"In the subsequent trial of the “Race” Aero package, the maximum result on the rear axle with the “Race” wing in the 14 ° position and a 5 mm Gurney at 250 km / h achieved a downforce of 260 kg. The enormous downforce of the “Race” wing with Gurney cannot be brought into balance with the downforce on the front axle at this point."

[alias23]

I thought the blog went on to say that by adjusting the geo and a few modifications a balance could be achieved. Or did I misread that?

Given the RACE version hasn't been announced yet and I suspect dependant on Spa testing on the 18th March further work I guess is underway.

It does beg the question about the aerodynamics of the CupR wing. From memory that wing is circa 1600mm wide albeit with a different profile. 

I wonder what data was generated from Lotus testing and designing the CupR wing?

[NW76]

My understanding is ... track is ready to go ... race needs some further testing ...

[Bravo73]

23 minutes ago, alias23 said:

 

I thought the blog went on to say that by adjusting the geo and a few modifications a balance could be achieved. Or did I misread that?

My reading of the article was that the race wing with 5mm gurney flap produced too much rear downforce that could be balanced at the front. Therefore, the race wing on its own (plus LMS splitter) was the best track combo. 

[Jack]

22 hours ago, NW76 said:

http://komo-tec.com/Blog/en/komo-tec-im-windkanal-von-mira-in-england/

More info on their Windtunnel testing ... sounds like there is a race pack in the works as well ...

 @NW76 --  Thanks Norbert, there's some great info in that blog.

I found the info regarding the total weight and weight distribution of KT's test vehicle very interesting when compared to my CupR  -- my total weight was 2392 pounds (vs 2515 for the KT car) and my weight distribution was 40.22%/59.78% (vs 36%/44% for KT).

[TBD]

On 23.2.2017 at 12:46, Bravo73 said:

They also discovered other issues (which couldn't be balanced):

"In the subsequent trial of the “Race” Aero package, the maximum result on the rear axle with the “Race” wing in the 14 ° position and a 5 mm Gurney at 250 km / h achieved a downforce of 260 kg. The enormous downforce of the “Race” wing with Gurney cannot be brought into balance with the downforce on the front axle at this point."

Well, they did balance them, but needed to make mods:

The best compromise of all the demands placed on an Aero package for the race track was therefore achieved with the “Race” rear wing without Gurney with an angle of 14 ° and in the following configuration:

• “Race” wing (without Gurney)
• Front Splitter “Lotus Motorsport”
• “Canards” front
• Splitter Fences
• Cover on the rear lower crossbars
• Angle of the ground (rake) is raised by 0.25 °

[alias23]

What are splitter fences?

[Arun_D]

Think of a vertical piece sticking up from the splitter. Eg end-fences appear at either end, not dissimilar to a rear wing

[Jack]

Example of a home-made splitter fence/dam    …….

 

 

 

2 hours ago, TBD said:

Well, they did balance them, but needed to make mods:

The best compromise of all the demands placed on an Aero package for the race track was therefore achieved with the “Race” rear wing without Gurney with an angle of 14 ° and in the following configuration:

• “Race” wing (without Gurney)
• Front Splitter “Lotus Motorsport”
• “Canards” front
• Splitter Fences
• Cover on the rear lower crossbars
• Angle of the ground (rake) is raised by 0.25 °

14 degrees AOA for the wing seems like a lot ….. but KT did the testing.  Kudos to them.

[NW76]

Kudos for testing ... they are crazy perfectionists ... not even AC Schnitzer on BMW with much larger Budgets does Wind Tunnel testing of their Aero Kits ...

 

[550superfast]

15 hours ago, Jack said:

 @NW76 --  Thanks Norbert, there's some great info in that blog.

I found the info regarding the total weight and weight distribution of KT's test vehicle very interesting when compared to my CupR  -- my total weight was 2392 pounds (vs 2515 for the KT car) and my weight distribution was 40.22%/59.78% (vs 36%/44% for KT).

36 + 44 don't add up to 100 ???

[alias23]

Thanks @Jack @Arun_D for explaining. It does seem quite extensive extras are needed for the RACE pack, as per my previous post how come the CupR doesn't seem to need these to balance out the front and rear downforce. Is the CupR a softer profile wing?