01 - Coastdown SW Introduction
Effective aerodynamics is an essential part of overall vehicle design and manufacturers can assess developments to the aerodynamics of their vehicles by performing a Coastdown test.
This is a test in accordance with EU directive 70/220/EEC – annex III, which measures the effects of wind and road resistance, based upon time taken for a vehicle to coast from one speed to another, with the engine in neutral gear.
A major problem associated with this testing is the requirement for a very long, flat test track, to allow sufficient time for the vehicle to coast from 125kmh to 5kmh (for example – range is user definable).
The Racelogic solution breaks the testing down into multiple user-definable segments, to allow the full range to be subject to the test without the need for an excessively long test track. The software takes the test data and performs statistical analysis in real time on this, as defined in the directive, to provide instantaneous indication of when the required statistical accuracy has been met.
The VBOX Coastdown software is designed for use with VBOX III or VBOX3i, as it is optimised for the dynamic response of the VB III and VB3i, particularly when used in conjunction with an IMU. NOTE when this software is used with VB3i, the serial link to the PC must be via the VB3i RS232 serial data output.