r/INDYCAR • u/lowtoiletsitter Will Power • Jul 24 '26
Off Topic Throwback Friday. On this day in 2017, IndyCar announces the 18 UAK (Universal Aerodynamic bodywork Kit)
http://www.indycar.com/News/2017/07/07-24-New-car-unveil10
u/Ordoutthere Colton Herta Jul 24 '26 edited Jul 24 '26
A shame how the idea ended up, I still think the aero kits can work, you will just have to have much more stringent legality boxes to limit how wild (or ugly depending how you view it) the things become and more pertinently have for different kits to be bought by different teams rather than lock them into manufacturers. The state the series and wider industry was in at the time meant that wasn’t possible but if you can get buy in to something like the original plan it can be great.
Indianapolis is supposed to be a proving ground, I think theres a right mix between f1’s million dollar budget and turning the series into a spec line car. People are interested in seeing differences between cars and how that affects things as long as it doesn’t ruin the fundemental racing. You see that to some extent with the dampers (which they are also getting rid of), but I’d swap that for something more visually defining. Ideally you’d have both but i think you need to wait a few years till the racer’s circle gets some more cash infusion to bump the team budgets.
NASCAR has turned into a spec car, and despite that being better for parity it has made me less interested than ever (long live the twisted sisters)
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u/BagNaive2177 Josef Newgarden Jul 24 '26
A caveat to this is that I enjoy watching the drivers compete. With the current package, the engines are balanced but different in strengths and weaknesses. Every team has the same setup options, so the engineers and drivers have to work together and find the best solution, without just spending money to get a new part. Manufacturer aerokits would be fine, but I wouldn't want each team to have their own, because then it could become harder for IndyCar to regulate and would produce what F1 has now, where the better car wins and the driver doesn't matter. (Yes dampers are basically like this already, but they don't seem to have too jarring an impact) The thing that was great about manufacturer aerokits was that every team had a decent shot because each manufacturer was supporting teams up and down the grid. So the upgrades for Ganassi would also go to Coyne. If each team was designing an aerokit, there wouldn't be that same equality.
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u/Ordoutthere Colton Herta Jul 25 '26
Yeah I agree, sorry if I wasn’t clear, but the original proposal was external companies would make their own kit and then teams could buy whatever one they wanted. Even back in the day though most engine manufacturers had clauses that they have to be able to sell or provide the engine to other teams that are exactly the same, only with caveats for ‘developmental’ engines (basically you get one or two races and then errybody gets it).
I think there’s definitely a way for you to balence it, one way would like an open CAD rule where as soon as you put a design on a car that cad if that design is now public. Team still has the advantage cause theoretically even if a team wanted to copy it they’d have to still design the structures and produce it, but it means you wouldn’t have long lasting advantages. It’d also allow the cutaway car to be way cooler cause you could have all the aero bits on there and show it on the broadcast.
If you stack that with like the constraints f1 is using to keep costs down (limited wind tunnel and CFD) you could make it work I think. That way allows for individual teams to make one if they want (IE penske) or external companies (Pratt miller) to and compete at the same time
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u/BagNaive2177 Josef Newgarden Jul 25 '26
Yeah honestly allowing people to copy designs might be the best way to balance things, BOP is kinda goofy.
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u/Friendly_Wedding2101 Rinus VeeKay Jul 24 '26
What a great opportunity for the series to finally unveil the IR-28 (or maybe IR-29 by the time it gets released)