Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg - Aero kits - A Closer Look

Honda with Aero kit. (Photo courtesy IndyCar)

ST PETERSBURG, FL – RIS -  Honda and Chevrolet competitively debut their Aero kit configurations this weekend at the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. Here is a closer look:

Fast Facts:

The Aero kit program was initiated by the ICONIC committee in 2010 and supported by Honda

and Chevrolet.

 

*Honda and Chevrolet each designed one aero kit with parts for road/street courses, short ovals

and superspeedways (tracks 1.5-miles and longer).

 

*Manufacturers were able to develop their own front/rear wing endplates, sidepods, engine

cover, rear-wheel guards, front/rear wing flaps (road/street configuration) and front wing main

planes (speedway configuration only) as long as they fit inside designated “volume boxes” as

specified by INDYCAR.

 

*After 2015, manufacturers are able to upgrade (re-develop) a maximum of three Aero Kit

components (excluding sidepods and engine cover) in 2016. Once a new component design has

been approved, the original parts are grandfathered so teams can still continue to utilize those

components. A 2016 upgrade kit will cost no more than $15,000 per car charged to the team.

 

*Aero kits are much more than a single bolt-on body for INDYCAR teams. They will include a suite

of components that allow multiple combinations of aerodynamic elements to suit the strategy and

preferences of each team. This brings a new challenge to the race engineers, who may mix and

match these parts to find the right combination of downforce for optimum performance in both

qualifications and the race at each track.

 

*A key safety advancement for 2015 is the INDYCAR-mandated change to the underwing of the

chassis to coincide with Aero Kit implementation. A hole on each side of the floor was added to

reduce the overall surface area of the bottom of the racecar, which reduces the chance of lift

during an accident.

 

*No entrant may use more than two homologated aero kits during a single season, and the 2014

Dallara bodywork may be one of the two aero kits. A team is not required to have each of its

cars use the same aero kit at an event, and both manufacturers have homologated multiple

options to supplement the base components. Optional components also can be changed between

qualifying and the race.

 

*INDYCAR will police the regulations through its technical inspection process on race weekends.

There will be a combination of jigs and fixtures, load tests, maximum and minimum height

dimensions and then laser scanning of the components to compare the database of the CAD of

components against the car.

 

Dave Chess

Dave Chess has been writing for RIS since the late 1980s during the CompuServe days. His work has also appeared in Auto Week magazine, Chicago Gearhead News newspaper, ATA airlines in-flight magazine, National Speed Sport News and on many websites.

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Volume 2015, Issue 3, Posted 2:15 PM, 03.28.2015