Ferrari Develops Bodywork That Moves With Suspension

Ferrari is working on fenders that are rigidly mounted to the wheel uprights, but it doesn't know quite how to make the idea work.CarBuzzdiscovered Ferrari's latest patent filed with theEuropean Patent Office. Modena wants the fender to move along with the wheel because its current fenders, which are rigidly mounted to the body, are less than ideal in the Italian engineers' eyes. We've seen spy images of the LaFerrari replacement, whichdoes not appear to have this system in place.

The reason fenders are fixed to the body is easy enough to explain. They cover the wheels and leave enough room to not interfere with all the movements enabled by the suspension setup while the car is being driven.

Ferrari calls its current bodywork "simple and effective" but also states that there is a "plurality of drawbacks." To understand why Ferrari wants to mount the fenders to the uprights, we first need to look at the drawbacks in greater detail.

According to Ferrari, the most apparent drawback is design limitations from ensuring the wheels and the fenders don't touch. There has to be enough space for the wheels to clear, which limits how much the engineers can do regarding aerodynamics.

Because the position between the wheel and the fender changes constantly, the air flowing through there changes behavior depending on the wheel and fender position. A non-variable setup would give the engineers a set standard to work with, making it easier to control the airflow over the fenders even when the car is in motion. This system is likely being designed for an electric vehicle, consideringhow important this particular branch of science isto the automotive world.

Ferrari also says the height of the fenders from the ground can impact the driver's visibility negatively, especially when the seat is mounted extremely low, as is the case with every Ferrariexcept the Purosangue.