Watch The Ford GT’s Active Rear Wing At Work In The Wind Tunnel

Just because you weren’t one of the 500 buyers fortunate enough to secure their 2017 Ford GT order doesn’t mean that you can’t appreciate the handiwork that goes into these supercars.

Case in point, aerodynamics. It doesn’t sound all that exciting, but in this video just released by Ford, we see the Ford GT’s active aerodynamic features in action during wind tunnel testing, and it’s pretty freaking cool!

Filmed at Ford’s Wind Tunnel 8 in Allen Park, Michigan, we get our first glimpse of the GT’s three-stage wing, which is the first active aerodynamic feature to be fitted to a production Ford. In the wing’s highest position, it assists in the GT’s stopping ability by acting as a large airbrake, much like the McLaren P1. The two lower positions allow the car to generate different levels of downforce based on the driving conditions.

Ford engineer Nick Terzes takes us behind the scenes while a Ford GT pre-production verification prototype undergoes wind tunnel testing. As Terzes explains, “as dynamic and beautiful as the design is, every single opening has a purpose on the car. So If you see a large grille, if you see a scoop, it’s wasn’t just put there to look good. It was put there because it has a function.”

It’s a careful balance between downforce and drag. The pre-production model seen here sits on scales that can measure horizontal aerodynamic forces (drag) and vertical aero forces (downforce) as 125 mile an hour wind flows over and under the car’s bodywork.

Ford will continue to make small tweaks to the GT’s aerodynamic profile to get everything dialed in before the Ford GT heads into production next year. “Being the GT program,” Terzes said, “we effectively test 24/7.”

“In the end, all these late hours, all these weekends that we work, are absolutely worth it to be a part of a program like this, and to create the ultimate GT.”