Windshear Inc.

Opened in September of 2008, Windshear’s 180-mph rolling-road wind tunnel is the first of its kind in North America, and only the third rolling road wind tunnel of its scale in existence. More importantly, it is the world’s first commercially available, full-scale, rolling-road wind tunnel of its type. Windshear operates the one-of-a-kind facility 10 hours a day, 5 days a week, with a staff of 12. The facility is available for hire to all motor sports teams and auto manufacturers, providing services previously available only to top Formula 1 teams. The wind tunnel accommodates full-scale vehicles, and provides constant airspeeds up to 180 mph, with temperatures controlled to within 1ºF. The high-tech rolling road is 10.5 feet wide by 29.5 feet long, and able to accelerate from zero to 180 mph in less than one minute. The “road” is actually a continuous stainless steel belt just one millimeter thick, and it is designed to last up to 5,000 operational hours. If a vehicle remained on the belt the entire 5,000 hours, it would “travel” approximately 300,000 to 400,000 kilometers (186,000 to 248,000 miles). During testing, “through-the-belt” sensors measure the aerodynamic down force under each tire.