Porsche 956/962 nose diffuser

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boffin5
boffin5
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Joined: 30 Jan 2022, 23:09

Porsche 956/962 nose diffuser

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Porsche's first car to exploit underbody aerodynamics was the 956, which led to the 962. In addition to ground effect tunnels at the rear of the car, there was a divot or hump in the monocoque at the front. This was an early version of the use of nose diffusers.
I have been trying to find images or drawings showing this feature, but so far have been striking out.
Can anyone can point me to a place where this information might be hiding?

Cheers, Alan w

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Stu
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Joined: 02 Nov 2019, 10:05
Location: Norfolk, UK

Re: Porsche 956/962 nose diffuser

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boffin5 wrote: โ†‘
30 Jan 2022, 23:22
Porsche's first car to exploit underbody aerodynamics was the 956, which led to the 962. In addition to ground effect tunnels at the rear of the car, there was a divot or hump in the monocoque at the front. This was an early version of the use of nose diffusers.
I have been trying to find images or drawings showing this feature, but so far have been striking out.
Can anyone can point me to a place where this information might be hiding?

Cheers, Alan w
From recall the 956 and factory 962 featured a raised centre-section in the nose structure as a feed-in to the underfloor, this was followed by a full-width flat section (which continued under the cockpit area to the rear bulkhead); meanwhile, the ground effect tunnels started under the side-pods about halfway back.
Later, some re-engineered versions by private entrants featured full-width splitters and no raised sections, others added a stepped splitter that followed the original profile.

The tunnels themselves were compromised by the โ€˜flat-6โ€™ engine layout, part of the reason that the slightly later Jaguar had a higher peak performance was that it was able to maximise the tunnels (it also featured a full-width front splitter with (almost) a nose-wing formed by the front radiator extraction.

Edit
This article is worth a look and contains some details and some decent photographs

https://www.motorsportmagazine.com/arch ... rce-be-you
Perspective - Understanding that sometimes the truths we cling to depend greatly on our own point of view.

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PlatinumZealot
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Joined: 12 Jun 2008, 03:45

Re: Porsche 956/962 nose diffuser

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boffin5 wrote: โ†‘
30 Jan 2022, 23:22
Porsche's first car to exploit underbody aerodynamics was the 956, which led to the 962. In addition to ground effect tunnels at the rear of the car, there was a divot or hump in the monocoque at the front. This was an early version of the use of nose diffusers.
I have been trying to find images or drawings showing this feature, but so far have been striking out.
Can anyone can point me to a place where this information might be hiding?

Cheers, Alan w
There is a website called Mulsanne's corner.
Tonnes of photos of LMP cars and their inner workings. You will find many front diffuser details there, but you might have tobsearch to find those cars specifically.

http://www.mulsannescorner.com/
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