Adaptive wings that can move up and down for max downforce or top speed, then flip upward to work as an air brake? That’s nothing new. Now, the hip new thing is in a Mercedes-Benz patent the CarBuzz research team just uncovered. It shows wings with active moving end plates, which could give the next AMG Black Series model even more in common with a Boeing 777X than the amount of thrust it develops.
Mercedes Heard You Liked Wings, So It Put Another Wing On Your Wing
Mercedes-Benz Folding Wing PatentMercedes-Benz
The invention is a wing with extra-long lower end plates. Those end plates are connected to a pivot that’s attached to the bottom of a conventionally-sized end plate with a motor and a hinge.
When it’s down, it acts like a much larger end plate. The end plate is a key part of the wing that separates the low-pressure area underneath and the high-pressure on top, keeping air from “bleeding” over. Stopping the air bleed helps maximize downforce and reduces drag. Oversized plates can also contribute to some directional stability.
If the driver is on a track or in a situation that calls for more downforce, the fancy new end plates flip up. Now they’re not end plates, they’re actually two stubby wings that stick out from either side of the main wing. Like the wing tips of the 777X, but Benz doesn’t need to worry about not fitting on a taxiway.
This gives the car nearly instant extra downforce, something that’s crucial to high-speed performance. Nearly every modern advanced race car uses a wing of some sort to generate downforce on the back of a car. The effect, which flips the wing and the direction of force of an airplane’s wing, is to push the tire into the pavement. That gives the car more grip.
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In the patent, Mercedes-Benz describes the problem with modern wings on race cars: Every track needs a different amount of downforce, and that means either a highly adjustable wing or a stockpile of different wings for different tracks. Benz describes that as “large inventories, enormous procurement costs, time-consuming installation/removal, and an increased risk of installation errors.”
Inventor Wanted Cheap, Simple, And Effective Extra Downforce
Mercedes-Benz Folding Wing PatentMercedes-Benz
The Mercedes-Benz engineers wanted to design a wing that was simple, cost-effective, and able to “efficiently” add downforce. They also wanted it to be remotely controllable, and to avoid the “escape” of airflow that would hurt its effectiveness. This accomplishes all of those. Yes, adding a motor and controller to the end of the wing is going to add weight and bulk, but it’s minimal.
The new wing seems tailored to race cars, but if that was the extent of the company’s plans, it wouldn’t bother getting a patent. You won’t find a patent for the latest wing on a Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 car, because every other team would instantly copy it and kick the lawsuits to the end of the season.
That suggests that there is at least the glimmer of hope that this could end up on a production car. It would let Mercedes-AMG put a larger than ever wing on a car like the Mercedes-AMG GT or the anticipated CLE 63 Black Series.
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Instead of a massive wing pushed out beyond the fenders, wreaking havoc in city centers and on car washes and unable to fit on shipping trucks, it would only be a big wing when you need it to be. It seems like a near perfect idea, at least until the shiny, happy first owner leaves it open and bangs into a cyclist or pedestrian.
CarBuzz Insight – Why This Matters:
The Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series is essentially a race car for the road.Mercedes-AMG
For an AMG race team, this could be a huge cost-cutter. That might help affordability and lead to more customer cars in series around the world.
For a production car, it would look awesome when you flapped your rear wing on the road. Even better than the GLE’s Sand Mode hop. It would also potentially make the hold the road better, if you’re one of the few who pushes for the hottest lap times around your local circuit.
Patent filings do not guarantee the use of such technology in future vehicles and are often used exclusively as a means of protecting intellectual property. Such a filing cannot be construed as confirmation of production intent.
Source: DPMA
