Ford's 200 mph wind tunnel was designed to blow the competition away
World's fastest rolling road wind tunnel is built for speed
The 2024 Ford Mustang was designed to ride like the wind. And into it.
Ford has unveiled the new wind tunnel it has installed at its Allen Park, Michigan, development center, where the Mustang and other new models are tested.
It's the first rolling road wind tunnel that can generate wind speeds up to 200 mph.
The facility features five treadmill-like belts that allow a vehicle's four wheels to turn during testing while the fifth rolls under the center of the vehicle to simulate driving down the road better than a wind tunnel with a fixed floor can.
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Smoke and lighting is used to visualize the airflow over the vehicle. (Ford)
"The closer we can get to reality in the lab, the better and faster we can create more energy efficient vehicles with great on-road and track stability," said John Toth, Ford's North America Wind Tunnels engineering supervisor.
Each wheel is on a treadmill and a fifth runs down the middle of the car. (Ford)
"Testing while the wheels and tires move is instrumental to improving aerodynamics for track-ready vehicles, like Mustang Dark Horse, which has to balance both aerodynamic drags and downforce."
The Mustang Dark Horse was designed to reduce front end lift and improve downforce for track driving. (Ford)
The 500 hp Mustang Dark Horse will be the highest performance version of the model when deliveries begin later this year.
The Mustang Dark Horse is the most powerful version of the model. (Ford)
"We spent approximately 250 hours in the wind tunnel developing the 2024 Ford Mustang, which includes Dark Horse," said Jonathan Gesek, program aerodynamicist for Mustang and Bronco.
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The tunnel's 26-foot tall, 7,000 horsepower turbine is capable of moving enough air to fill a 250-foot-long blimp in just five seconds.
Rolling road wind tunnel (Ford)
Ford isn't claiming the Mustang Dark Horse can reach 200 mph in the real world, but it has build a few cars that can, including the 2013 Mustang Shelby GT500, which had a claimed top speed of 202 mph, and the 2017 Ford GT, which can hit 216 mph, according to Ford.
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The Mustang Dark Horse's development was focused more on reducing front end lift, improving downforce and optimizing engine and brake cooling, but the tunnel will also be used to design energy efficient electric vehicles.