From 1990 to 1993 the Toyota TS010 Group C car was put through an intensive aero development programme by Tony Southgate and Geoff Kingston in the Kings College 20 per cent and 35 per cent wind tunnels in London. In those three years the pair completed over 2000 runs, reviewing the full spectrum of body modifications from brake duct positioning to complete body design and wing placement, and in the process pushing downforce figures way higher than had previously been seen in any form of motorsport at that time (a process that will be examined in detail in a future issue).
From the sheer amount of data sheets and photographs that has been provided to us, it was clear they investigated every available option the regulations would permit to ensure the 1993 TS010 was going to be capable of taking on the 1992 championship-winning Peugeot 905s at Le Mans. Even designs that had first come to light in the free-thinking world of Can-Am two decades previously were trialled again to see if any benefits could be sensibly achieved with new manufacturing technologies, and the better understanding of the aerodynamic interactions courtesy of modern wind tunnel testing.
Between 1991 and 1993 the sportscar world witnessed some of the most extreme downforce figures ever seen, so it seemed like a nice idea to review some of the more significant changes trialled in the wind tunnel back then, and then compare the findings with our current CFD values.
Baseline Model. Run 1
100% 787B CFD v 20% 91CV
Toyota started with its 91CV wind tunnel model as its baseline. But as we don’t have an accurate model, the 1991 Le Mans winning Mazda 787B model, as used for a project by Mark Peters a few years ago, seemed a viable substitute. The 787B model came from scanning and scaling an insanely detailed 1/8th model from a well known manufacturer that had scanned the original car in the museum to get to this point, then sanity checking this against
