“I´m willing to tune a Maserati GT with a guaranteed Aerodynamic improvement.”
“I would like to close by wishing a happy Maserati 100° Jubileum to all Maserati´s fans and wishing all the best to Lio Messi in the FIFA World Cup 2018.”
(The greatest football celebrity owns 2 stunning Gran Turismo: a S and a MC Stradale.)
Link to Maserati GT: https://www.maserati.com/maserati/international/en/models/granturismo
FULL TXT:
14/7/2017
– I was the first Aerodynamicist involved in the Maserati Gran Turismo coupè and Gran Cabrio versions (2006) and feel great! to see its evolution following the implementation of many of my early recommendations.
As probably many of you ignore, not all the solutions provided by an Aerodynamicist are used on a vehicle project due to industrialization of parts can rise costs out of initial budget or them can be in conflict with the wished styling design.
– Maldonado: for example?
– I worked close to CFD engineers in several assessments, and used cutting edge techniques for flow visualization in the wind tunnel.
My change requests for aero-optimization were studied by the engineering team and many of them were applied immediately. But for instance, the rear underbody diffuser couldn´t be better due to packaging constraints. In later versions, as i.e. Gran Cabrio, it was improved.
I also measured Cp distribution on bonnet to study opportunities for inlets & outlets, and they have been added on later series production versions and tunned Maserati GT.
In vehicle developments it is common that most ideas for better aerodynamic performance can´t be implemented due to different attributes in conflict.
For instance, the shape of a rear bumper can have geometrical constraints due to the managing decision on using BLIS and other sensors, or due to necessary clearances to body outlets (air extractors), etc.
In general, the styling design has a big influence on passenger cars. Above all, the car is a product developed with the intention to be attractive and to be sold to the biggest amount of people.
(He means: Each series vehicle is an industrial product and so it has to be competitive in the market – something that one can only reach with a good balance of performance and costs within a stablished budget.)
Along my career i´ve seen automotive industry going slowly addressed to the right efficient shapes been applied on series cars. The vehicle projects get every time bigger budget dedicated to the aero-pack.
An aerodynamic optimization needs for extra parts, i.e. underbody panels, air dams, air curtain, AGS and other active aerodynamic devices, etc.
The homologation requirements regarding CO2 emissions are helping on that evolution in the case of passenger cars, and the rivalry in performance among sports cars.
14/6/2018
“I´m willing to tune a Maserati GT with a guaranteed Aerodynamic improvement.”
“I would like to close by wishing a happy Maserati 100° Jubileum to all Maserati´s fans and wishing all the best to Lio Messi in the FIFA World Cup 2018.”