Where Aero Balance Tuning Logic Advice Usually Breaks
Somewhere between a wind tunnel's hourly rate and a CFD solver's license fee, there's a decision that shapes your entire aero program. I've watched teams burn a season's budget in three tunnel days, and I've seen others trust CFD blindly until the car showed up with rear lift at Monza. The numbers don't lie, but they don't tell the whole story either. Here's what I've learned from budgeting aero iterations across Formula SAE, club racing, and a couple of professional series: the tunnel and the simulation are not rivals. They're tools with different cost curves, different strengths, and different failure modes. This guide breaks down how to plan your iteration budget so you're not guessing when to book wind tunnel weeks and when to let CFD run overnight.