NASCAR's Latest Tweaks to Solve Excess Cabin Heat in the Next Gen Car
NASCAR's Latest Tweaks to Solve Excess Cabin Heat in the Next Gen Car
NASCAR completed its final race with the Generation 6 Cup car in early November. Now all eyes are on the Next Gen car which is set to debut next year ahead of the 2022 racing season. While much of the focus during this season’s final weekend was on the championship race, the Next Gen car took up a significant chunk of the “State of the Sport” session held by NASCAR President Steve Phelps at the start of the weekend. NASCAR's Latest Tweaks to Solve Excess Cabin Heat in the Next Gen Car
The NASCAR Next Gen car is a revolutionary change for the series. NASCAR has to get it right, which is why the new car is being closely scrutinized in testing. The car has received praise for how it more closely resembles its production-car counterparts, as well as for how it drives on road courses, thanks mostly to new independent rear suspension. But drivers have criticized the Next Gen, especially when it comes to cabin comfort while testing on ovals. NASCAR's Latest Tweaks to Solve Excess Cabin Heat in the Next Gen Car
Back in early September, NASCAR completed a test at Daytona where drivers had their first opportunity to try drafting in the new car. On that day, the chief complaint from drivers was the amount of heat inside the cabin. NASCAR's Latest Tweaks to Solve Excess Cabin Heat in the Next Gen Car
The cabin heat issues appear to be related to a few key differences in the Next Gen design—namely, the fact that the exhaust now runs along both sides of the car, where previously it exited on the passenger side only. On the Next Gen, the exhaust pipes run down either side of the cabin, enclosed in rocker boxes. While the rocker boxes are vented, the cooling airflow apparently isn’t sufficient based on driver comments from Daytona. NASCAR's Latest Tweaks to Solve Excess Cabin Heat in the Next Gen Car
Immediately after the Daytona test session, cabin temperatures were a common theme among drivers. Chris Buescher said, “it’s pretty warm, so we’re working on trying to cool it off. We’ve got some different hose configurations, so we’re going through those trying to alleviate some of the heat inside.”
Denny Hamlin added, “we’re really focused on the heat of the car, trying to get the heat out.”
As Buescher mentioned, some teams made early attempts at alleviating the heat by adding air hoses and intake ducts in the windshield. It wasn’t enough—while the NACA duct on the windshield brought in additional airflow, the air in the pedal box area mostly sat stale, with no place to exit. Drivers’ feet were still getting extremely hot.
At the most recent multi-car test at the Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval on October 10th, teams attempted a few more tweaks, including shortening the exhaust path, and even opening up the rear glass to help extract hot air. These changes seemed to show some promise: Cabin temperatures began to drop.
NASCAR's Latest Tweaks to Solve Excess Cabin Heat in the Next Gen Car
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