This impressive performance was achieved by seamlessly optimising the car ’ s volumes . The result is a car with an extremely clean , elegant design in which all the performance-oriented elements meld effortlessly with the styling , underscoring the inextricable marriage of technology and aesthetics that is the signature of all Ferraris . The aero development work done on the 296 GTB means that even in low-drag configuration the car can deliver more downforce than previous applications . In high-downforce configuration , there is an additional 100 kg in downforce thanks to the active spoiler .
The ICE and the gearbox are cooled by two radiators installed at the front of the car , ahead of the front wheels , where there are also two condensers for the high-voltage battery cooling . The hot air is evacuated along the underbody , to avoid it interfering with the cooling air to the intercoolers along the upper part of the flanks . This choice made it possible to maximise efficiency and thus minimise the size of the air intake , further streamlining the car ’ s already clean styling . The radiators for the hybrid system have been given two vents just below the side sections of the spoiler . This solution frees up the central part of the front of the car , which has thus been used to generate downforce , and optimises the routing of the various circuits , to the direct benefit of packaging and weight .
The engine bay incorporates both the usual ICE components , which can function at peak temperatures of over 900 ° Celsius , and electric and electronic components that must function at lower temperatures . This led to a complete redesign of the turbo layout and the entire exhaust line .
The brake cooling system was developed around the Aero callipers introduced on the SF90 Stradale with ventilation ducts integrated into their castings . This brake cooling concept requires a dedicated duct to correctly channel cool air coming in through the air intakes on the front bumper through the wheelarch . In the case of the 296 GTB , the intake has been integrated into the headlight design . Just below the DRL , on the inner section , an aperture connects the wing to the wheelarch via a duct running parallel to the chassis strut , thus providing the cool air to the brakes .
This made it possible to push the design of the car ’ s underbody to new extremes , increasing the cooling capacity of the underbody without having to adopt any active front aero mechanisms . The signature aerodynamic element at the front of the 296 GTB is the ‘ tea-tray ’.
The arrangement of the radiating masses at the sides of the car frees up a central volume into which the tea tray is set , framed by the bridge that perfectly integrates it into the architecture and styling of the front bumper . This aero device uses a concept widely applied to single-seaters : the rear surface of the bumper works in synergy with the upper surface of the tea tray to create a high overpressure field , which counteracts the depression field that characterises the underbody .
The two different pressure regions remain separate as far as the edges of the tea-tray . But at those points , the two fields of opposing pressure come together once again and the air flow rolls back on itself creating an extremely coherent and energised vortex that is directed below the underbody . The vortex movement of the air translates into a localised acceleration of the flow that produces a high level of suction and greater downforce over the front axle .
Looking at the car from the front , the side volume creases sharply inwards , almost folding up over the side splitter . The empty volume thus created allows the flow to be more efficiently channelled and maximises the flow of air in the lower part of the bumper . To exploit the potential of the flow striking the side splitter to the fullest , the bumper ahead of the wheel is completed by a vertical nolder which generates a local recompression area that increases downforce and increases the extraction capacity of the hot air from the radiators . Also on the side of the bumper , the side air curtain channels the air from the front part of the bumper towards the wheel well , so that it vents through a specially created opening in the wheelarch . The exit section of this duct is calibrated to contain the transverse expansion of the wake .
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