2018 Ford GT Active Aero Demonstration… How Does it Work?

Just last week we took a look at the Zenvo TSR-S and it’s insane articulating active aero system. If you remember, the rear wing on that car looked almost as if were dancing, or some said it simply appeared to be broken, but watching the wing in action, we could see where it just may actually work.

That got us discussion other cars that have active aero, and of course talk turned to the new Ford GT, which also features and articulating rear wing.

The wing on the GT doesn’t have the horizontal motion of the Zenvo, but it does have three distinct modes that each serve a specific purpose, and thanks to our buddy Brooks over at Drag Times, we have some great footage of the system in action.

Before he could take his yellow GT out for a spin, Brooks had to contend with a dead battery. As you can imagine in a modern, ultra-high-tech car like the GT, this actually presents quite a problem, which Brooks walks us through. I can tell you, if I were in his position I’d be much more animated about how ridiculous the process is to charge a dead battery. Regardless, he got it taken care of and was able to get the car fired up and hit the road.

His car is still within the “break-in” period, so he didn’t really give it too much hell, although he did roll into the throttle for a couple of short blasts to show us the active aero doing its thing. Compared to the TSR-S, the GT’s wing looks almost tame, switching between three modes based on the car’s speed and driver input.

At low speeds, the wing stays tucked down flush with the rear of the body to reduce drag. As speed increases, the raises and adds some drag and downforce to the rear wheels, and this is where it likely spends most of its time while the car is being driven. Then when the driver jumps on the brakes, the wing tilts nearly vertical into air-brake mode to help the car slow from high speeds.

We’re not going to say either system is better or worse, but these two cars certainly take different approaches to solving the same problem.

Thanks as always to Brooks and Drag Times for the excellent footage. We can’t wait to see what the GT does once it’s broken in and he can turn it loose on the drag strip.