[clutch]

I'd heard HAAS/CNC was building a wind tunnel.........as gain revenue from other teams and I was just looking for an image of something unrealted and found this...........do you buy it?...

Giant treadmill built for cars - Geekologie

[NASCAR Gnome]

Looks real enough to me but the article is dated April 17 so it's not exactly brand-new... could be a late April Fool's deal...

Now, assuming it is real, it would be a great tool but as the caption said about driving off the treadmill if there's a problem, I can't help but imagine the havoc this would wreak on the facility and driver if the car flew off the thing!

[Racer Duck]

It's real. I saw the article last year.

The idea is to test the suspension & drive train w/o air flow. Just another tool like the engine dyno, chassis dyno, 7-post and wind tunnel that are becoming "gotta have's" for a Cup team.

Now you know why it costs so much to put a Cup car on the track. It ain't the car, it's all the "toys"....

[DOF_power]

That's real.
Rolling wind-tunnels became the latest fashion/must have when Sauber introduced one a couple of years ago to Formula 1.

This new facility will be available to anyone from what I've read.

If this trend continues like in F1, expect CFD Supercomputers (for rent) and (laser map) simulators to be the next hot items.

[SteelHorse]

that reminds me of when I was a kid and I would take my toy NASCAR's and turn on mom's treadmill pretending im racing down a road, this must be like that times 10 at least.

[clutch]

Mmm,...maybe but it still looks a bit ridiculous to me...........180mph treadmill is just asking for trouble....LoL

[Bob Tanner]

Originally Posted by clutch

Mmm,...maybe but it still looks a bit ridiculous to me...........180mph treadmill is just asking for trouble....LoL

NASCAR has used this for years, Clutch. You probably just never heard it referred to as a "treadmill." You might be more familiar with the term "chassis dyno?"

[DOF_power]

Not quite, this the first rolling-road wind-tunnel in the USA.

A few years ago there was only one (motor-sport) in whole world and it belonged to Sauber F1 (witch is why BMW bought them). Apart from that only the big F1 teams have technology.

[Bob Tanner]

Originally Posted by DOF_power

Not quite, this the first rolling-road wind-tunnel in the USA.

A few years ago there was only one (motor-sport) in whole world and it belonged to Sauber F1 (witch is why BMW bought them). Apart from that only the big F1 teams have technology.

I didn't read closely enough. I missed the wind tunnel effect. So, it's just kind of a chassis dyno sum wind tunnel.? Neat idea. Expensive but very neat.

[DOF_power]

40 millions is why only the big teams in F1 had one till now.

Next "stage" is a 40-50 million CFD supercomputer, then a 40-50 million supersimulator, then a driver training/fitness/recovery center also worth a lot of $$$.