What is a wind tunnel tester in nascar?

Question

do all teams have one?

what does it do specifically?

Answer 1

A wind tunnel is used to measure the aerodynamic efficiency of a vehicle (car)

It's basically just a sealed area where they have a really big fan which will generate high wind speed. Often the will use a plume of smoke to show how/where the wind hits the car and how it bounces off the car.

From there they will make improvements on the car and study how the wind hits and bounces off the car in various points.

It basically just simulates real driving conditions in a confined area to study aerodynamics.

Answer 2

NASCAR teams build two types of cars. They build cars for the short tracks, like Bristol Motor Speedway in Tennessee, where top speeds are lower and turns are tighter. They also build cars for the super-speedways, like Talladega in Alabama, where top speeds are higher but engine power is limited.

Short-track Cars

The goal in designing a short-track car is to create as much downforce as possible. Downforce is an aerodynamic force that tends to press the cars tightly against the ground, allowing the tires to grip the track with more force. This makes the cars go around the tighter turns as quickly as possible. Downforce comes with the penalty of increased drag, but on the short tracks, reducing drag is not so important because the engines are able to make their full power output (they are not limited by restrictor plates) and speeds are generally lower.

Extensive testing is done in a wind tunnel to optimize the body design for maximum downforce. The body is mounted as far back on the frame as possible -- about 5 inches (12.7 cm) back from the body location on a super-speedway car. This helps the car create extra downforce.

The front fenders on short-track cars are much more pronounced and curved, which also helps to produce downforce.

Since the speeds are lower on the short tracks, getting an adequate volume of cooling air to the engine and brakes can be a challenge -- especially since the engines and brakes generate more heat during short-track racing. The grill opening on the front of a short-track car is larger than on a super-speedway car, and extra vents duct air directly onto the brakes.

Answer 3

What Bruce S  said.