Case Study: Advantage CFD achieves rapid Ferrari wing development and 2.5% drag reduction with 3D Systems

Prodrive Speeds Ferrari Wing Development With Reverse Engineering & CFD Software

When Velox and Prodrive paired to run the Ferrari 550 Maranello at Le Mans in 2003, Prodrive faced a tough aerodynamic challenge: rule changes had reduced engine power and the team had only six weeks to develop and validate a new rear wing. Compounding the time pressure, no CAD model existed for the car body, so the team needed a rapid reverse‑engineering and analysis workflow to produce a single wing design before pre‑qualifying.

Prodrive used 3D Scanners and Geomagic to convert 40 million scan points into accurate CAD surfaces, then Advantage CFD performed structured 3D CFD and 2D analyses to redesign the wing and its mounts. The design was machined into tooling by Protoform and track tests confirmed a 2.5% drag reduction for the same downforce; durability concerns kept the team on the original wing for the race, but the Velox–Prodrive Ferraris were the fastest in class and went on to win Le Mans.

Advantage CFD

Rob Lewis

Managing Director