Lotus Club Queensland
Dedicated to the promotion and enhancement of the Lotus experience
Login
Register
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Membership
    • Member Login
  • Events
    • Calendar
  • Motorsport
    • Lakeside DTC Timed Laps
    • LAKESIDE DTC RESULTS
  • Magazine
  • For Sale
    • Merchandise
    • Classifieds
  • Posts
  • Galleries
  • Directory
    • Suppliers & Parts
    • Advertisers
  • Archives
aerodynamics-banner

Europa Aerodynamics

Story and photos by Barry Ellis.

MY WIND TUNNEL

I had my first Europa Series 2 in the 70s and lived in country Vic with no speed restrictions on the open roads. It had a Kent race engine in it. I quickly realised that at around 120mph there was a dangerous amount of lift at the front. A friend of mine also had a Europa that he had put a Mazda 13B rotary into. He also said that by 120mph it was feeling a bit dangerous. Reference from the American car magazine (I think Road & Track) where they included wind tunnel test results in their road tests, confirmed that the Series 2 and Twin Cam Europas both had significant front lift at speed. I seem to have lost the magazines, so can’t quote their results. But on reflection, at the time of original supply, it was claimed that the Europa had the least drag of any production car in the world. Low drag and limited downforce. Mine with a Kent engine recorded 42 miles per gallon. Much better than any other car I’ve had.

I purchased my second Europa in 2004. As I wanted to race it, I realised that I would have to resolve the front lift problem. I was in Perth then & spoke to a local who told me that he had seen a Europa in the early 70s coming over the hill at the race track, and into the normal stiff Westerly wind, lift at the front, and do a complete summersault.

This was my 8th Lotus, so I’d had lots of experience in fibre glassing stuff. So I got started. I modified the front air inlet and radiator outlet. Then changed the front shape to include a spoiler and air dam. Added front diffusers to duct air into the front wheel arches for brake cooling. Added low side straight edges with air inlets at the back, much the same as the standard Esprit set up. Then covered the underside flat. Then diffusers across the lower back. And, last, a small Gurney Flap to the existing rear edge of the engine cover. In the design of all these modifications I referred to Competition Car Aerodynamics by Simon McBeath (2006).

Then the Wind Tunnel tests. I can’t help being a structural engineer. I drilled four small holes in the body vertically above the inside centre of the wheels. People at the race track often asked what the small holes were for. Then made rods that I connected to the suspension just inside of the wheels. I had marked the rods so that I could see/measure the relationship between the rod and the car body.

Then with myself and a passenger on board, he photographed the rod protrusions with the car stationary and on level ground. I then drove the car at the legal maximum speed of 110kph in both directions on a nearby straight, flat road. My passenger then photographed the rod protrusions again at that speed. Using the photos I calculated the body vertical movement at the test speed. And, yes I had downforce at both front and rear. It was 3mm at all corners. I then set up the car on wheel scales and loaded the car above the axles front and rear to get the same 3mm deflection. It was 110kg at the front and 45kg at the rear. Then by calculation I could ascertain downforces at any speed I was interested in. At the Perth race track I could attain about 260kmh.

I have a heart issue and couldn’t continue racing, but with a Mazda 12A PP in the car I was doing laps in the 66sec. This compared to a couple of 47s that raced there in the early 70s, much, much less weight, wider, proper racing tyres, best times in the 63sec.

Lotus Exige review North Queensland Runs

Related Posts

duratec-banner

Articles, Homepage, Technical

Duratec Elise – better late than never

plus2-banner

Articles, Gallery 2022, Homepage, Technical

Unique +2 Road Trip to Brisbane

helmet-banner

Articles, Homepage, Racing

$10 HEAD/$10 HELMET

Random images

McL_21 Our-time-keeper-and-recorder MG_8898 P1020647 img_1584 IMG_3778 123_2379_IMG IMG_4275 IMG_6505 19-Shane-on-karrassel IMG_4378 IMG_6809 image_213 IMG_7625 IMG_5222 IMG_3711 IMG_3660 MG_4311 Dick 172_THC22_2022-1 Rob-Parer-leading-the-pack-by-SDPICS Des-with-some-sideways-action Kristy McAndrew 1991 Mazda MX5 - 2 Rob on Track Geoff-lr SANY0076 Dick\'s scrutineering IMG_9040 Mike & Roger Allan, Craig & Colleen Cameron Campbell-Brown - Special award 3442 concours-14 Clive-stocking-up-on-Rockford-wines Wades-Esprit-1 4-Car-park-Lockyer-cafe-museum 28-Liam-on-the-eastern-loop MG_6984 Horseshoe-throwing-challenge Part-of-the-wild-bird-life Sue-and-Dick main-3 Garage-at-the-Lotus-Hilton main-42 Grahame_Vaughan P1080261 Ploughman's Lunch Ploughman's Lunch P1060529 Elan S1 Bambino on steroids IMG_0109 img_1106 img_1105 IMG_2540 037_37 P1050434 IMG_3171 0209jb P1090171 BDR_on_the_prowl IMG_6358 IMG_6346 IMG_6323 IMG_8065 IMG_7961 EMRc0412 P9190124c1 IMG_7375 0209sc image_110 IMG_6171 Ron-Hickman-with-Lotus-Elan Greg-Bray-Lotus-61 John-Lundgrens-Seven-2 Alan-Bents-Esprit-2 20201220_100254 John and Debbie's Evora 1 DSC_0288 IMG_8190 Not-so-bad Signing In Col and Greg 20181110_135720 Wiring-loon unnamed-3 Beer-wine-chat_gw IMG_6182 IMG_1426 Display-4 main-20 peter-2 IMGP8600 mg-racer-2 Modified-Veedub-2 MG_3921 clubman Shanes-Seven-1 IMGP8492 Alvis main-114

Recent Articles

  • Morgan Park Sprints R4
  • Kev’s Big Day Out
  • Duratec Elise – better late than never
  • Gold Rush Hill Sprint – 2022
  • Marburg Pub Run – 4 Sept 2022
  • Unique +2 Road Trip to Brisbane
  • Leyburn 2022
  • August 2022 DTC

Latest Gallery Images

20220220_093834 20220220_093818 20220220_093827 20220220_093743 20220220_093812 20220220_093730

Search articles by category

Archived articles

Lotus Club Queensland
© Lotus Club Queensland   |   Site by Black Eye Studios