S2000toIS350

The pictures of the car appear to have fans in both rear corners.

My guess is some sort of acitve downforce generators.

Any other info around?

LexFather

Well we have heard those are radiator fans but since the car is front engined, that couldnt be right. I think it was put there for "show" purposes and to throw people off into guessing was it front or mid engined when it first debuted.

Active downforce generators? LOL, I think a spoiler would do fine? Of a rear body diffuser like on the F430 Ferrari

mmarshall

I agree with Mike (1SICKLEX). Maybe a little downforce from a spoiler, but REAL downforce, F1 style would be out of the question......it simply ads too much drag, which affects fuel mileage, and fuel mileage is going to become more and more important in the future.

S2000toIS350

I remembered some old F1 stuff on this idea.

Here is a link

http://www.formula1.com/insight/tech...fo/11/468.html

Here is my thinking.

Lexus is looking to put it to the F and L and P cars better than Acura did with the NSX.

One way to do that is for the LFA to turn Joe Suburb into A. Senna.

These days awd and VDIM sorts of controls are already available.

Active downforce could be a competitive advantage play.

LexFather

MMarshall correct me if I am wrong but I think the 3000GT/Steath had some form of this. Of course it broke down like crazy and added crazy weight to the cars. I think they took all that active crap off the last 2 years of production.

Again, I thought they were radiator fans. Open vents won't help downforce, especially where they are placed on that car.

saleem

When you are buying a 100k exotic thats supposed to be stupid fast and fun. I dont think gas mileage and economy is gonna matter a whole lot even though this is a Toyota.

Lil4X

It was Jim Hall’s infamous series of Chaparrals that introduced the wing to international racing in the 1960’s. Hall, a Midland, Texas driver and entrepreneur took the Troutman-Barnes space frame made popular in the Scarab, and added a few of his own touches to produce the first front-engined Chevy-Chaparral. It was an immediate success on the SCCA road racing circuit. Lightweight and powerful, it combined the features of the race-proven but often evil handling Scarab (some of which already used Chevy V8s), with Hall's engineering and driving talents.



The Chaparral 2 was an early rear-engine design that incorporated advanced aerodynamics as well as a big engine and a lightweight chassis. The "wing" appeared early in development, and just seemed to grow. Eventually, a barndoor-sized panel suspended from two uprights connected directly to the rear suspension links kept the rear end of the lightweight Chevy powered sports-racing car firmly pinned to the track. Later additions made this wing moveable.



As the Chaparrals matured through the G model, they acquired another technology that was ahead of its time in road racing – an automatic transmission. With a little clandestine factory backing from Chevrolet - in the face of Ford's heavy support of Carol Shelby and the Cobras, Hall and his Texas Roadrunner changed a lot of preconceptions of what a successful road racer should be. The automatic was just one of them.

Properly set up, it delivered the massive torque of the big block to the ground while protecting the driveline from the V-8. That left the driver’s left foot with nothing to do, so - ever the engineer - Hall hooked a system of pushrods, bellcranks, and a hydraulic cylinder to a pedal that would turn that big wing skyward as the driver approached a corner under braking - simultaneously producing downforce and a good deal of aero-braking. Accelerating out of the corner, the driver would release the wing as the car passed 60-70 mph, removing downforce but reducing drag on the straightaway. Of course the Chaparral proved unbeatable, so the movable wing was banned by FIA and just about everywhere Jim could enter the 2G in international competition. Even the SCCA frowned on the appliance - especially after no one else could duplicate Hall's success.

The Chaparral 2J was his eventual response to banning of the moveable wing. It did away with the wing altogether, using a snowmobile engine to drive two fans to suck air out from under the car.



This “Sucker Car” was also banned for having “movable” aerodynamic devices – but only after it demonstrated its ability to drive around the competition almost at will. The 2J only competed four times before being banned – and despite some initial drive belt problems, it was so good it never saw a major FIA race.

Jim Hall’s Chaparrals revolutionized sports car racing. While they did well in SCCA events in the US, and some good showings in international events against heavily funded teams like Ford and Ferrari which were dueling for the championship in 1966-67. Hall couldn't fund an international effort, but continued to do well here at home. The Chaparrals were not only striking technical wonders that incorporated lightweight space frames, but engineering innovation, advanced aerodynamics, and REAL “outside the box” thinking were the hallmarks of the Texas Roadrunners.



For more of Jim Hall's Roadrunners, see: http://www.sandcastlevi.com/racing/f_racing.html