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8 hours ago, tomo said:

917Langheck.jpeg.31236e37e10b9924d6dd3574e9eeb694.jpeg

SERA And The Porsche 917, Part Two

 

Note: Almost all factual information in this post comes from Porsche: Excellence Was Expected (pp. 675-678 and 685-690), by Karl Ludvigsen, and Porsche 917: Archive And Works Catalog, by Walter Naher.


It was news to me that Porsche consulted with SERA on 917 aero before the "Pink Pig" that ran at LeMans in 1971.  (Search this blog on "SERA" if you're not familiar with the Pink Pig.)  SERA and Porsche collaborated on significant aero development for the 917 Langheck (LH) before, during, and after LeMans in 1970--and finally "fixed" it for LeMans 1971.

Before we get into development, some background:

The body shapes of the 907, 908, and the first 917 LH models were essentially the same.  The 907 LH was developed in wind tunnel tests.  It had the lowest drag coefficient of any racing Porsche, then or later.  This was why, with only 2.2 liters, it became another Porsche "giant killer."  The 908 LH was a slightly upsized copy of the 907.  It was not wind-tunnel tested until after its configuration was finalized.  At 3.0 liters, it suffered no stability problems at speeds approaching 200 m.p.h.  The 917 LH was again a slightly upsized copy of the 908, and it too was not wind-tunnel tested until after configuration was finalized.

 
002+-+TEST+LE+MANS+1969.jpg
The original 917 LH at the LeMans Test Days, 1969: essentially a 907 or 908 LH, but unstable.  The bell-crank operated
winglets didn't help, and were illegal under FIA regulations after LeMans anyway.  Back to the drawing board.  SERA
was not involved in shaping this body.
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