|
Tuning cars
The only way to evaluate aerodynamic changes is in a wind tunnel, which costs megabucks. How many tuners you think book extensive wind tunnel time to evaluate their various modifications....a few of the mainstream tuners....at best. There's no doubt that subtle changes can make a huge difference to a chassis at VERY high speed.....remember the early Audi TT sans spoiler that was renowned for flying backwards out of high speed bends when lifting off? The cure was a small boot lid spoiler that altered the airflow by breaking the wing effect that caused lift at high speeds.
At the speeds you're talking about, aerodynamic add-ons will make very little difference as the air pressures generated are simply too low and act over too small an area.
Effectively what the chip tune has done is to alter the dynamics of the car, in terms of both drive train and chassis, adding performance, but at the same time narrowing safety margins designed in by the manufacturer.
I would guess that if the car was designed to have the power levels of your chip tune, it would also have stiffer suspension (and not just spring rates), bigger brakes, wider tyres, an LSD or even 4wd.
|