there will be some sort of announcement at Michigan International Speedway on Friday, annoucing a “new world-class state-of-the-art automotive Wind Tunnel project”. No word on who will own it or be part of it. See past news about wind tunnels on my wind tunnel news and links page.(8-16-2007) UPDATE: hearing this will be a new type of rolling wind tunnel and will be built in North Carolina. It supposedly will have capabilities that no other wind tunnel has, being able to run three cars at time and simulate drafting. Sources also say there is a considerable Formula 1 involvement and the “tunnel time” is already half sold out.(8-17-2007) UPDATE 2: It was announced at a press conference at Michigan International Speedway that a newly-formed group of investors has joined together to design and construct a state-of-the-art customer wind tunnel project near Charlotte, N.C., the heart of NASCAR country, known as Wind Tunnel eXtreme. This project will help provide teams from all motorsports disciplines an “unfair advantage” in aerodynamic development. The core of this program will be the most advanced automotive wind tunnel in the world, utilizing technology that is not available today even to Formula 1 teams. Wind Tunnel eXtreme was created to address the scarcity of high-tech wind tunnel time in the United States. Slated to open in the third quarter of 2009, it will be a full-scale, world-class facility available to customers on a membership basis. It will also be the world’s only wind tunnel specifically designed for multiple-car testing, and the only customer wind tunnel in the world with the “TALINGZ” option added to a single-belt MTS rolling-road system. It will have full-scale testing capability, reach wind and road speeds of up to 180-mph (80 m/s), and feature best-in-class adaptive wall wind tunnel technology. Wind Tunnel eXtreme is in the process of finalizing the location of the project in the Charlotte area. An announcement of the exact site is expected to be made in early September.(PR) See the full PR on my Wind Tunnel news and links page.(8-17-2007)
