Will Power is impressed by IndyCar's next-generation aero kit

After having a chance to dissect the computer-generated renderings of the IndyCar universal aero kit, Team Penske driver Will Power likes what he sees.

"I think the car looks good with the low engine cover and the cool rear wing," Power told Autoweek. "It's a definite improvement on what we had. I think it should make it a much better car to race.

"This puts it back to more of an open-wheel type of car, and it reduces rear weight. That is a big help. I'm glad they are moving the radiators forward and getting rid of some of the weight in the rear. That was a real problem. I think they are going to have a nice-looking car."

Power does see room for improvement and believes with the additional downforce generated from the underwing rather than on top of the car, he would like to see less downforce than on today's cars.

"They have to make sure they take enough downforce off the car to make the braking zones longer, so there is more potential for passing, " Power said. "Right now, the braking zones are a little too compressed.

IndyCar released the next step in the universal aero kit process on Wednesday with the computer-generated illustrations of the kit that will be used on both the Chevrolet and Honda cars beginning next season.

Power, the 2014 Verizon IndyCar Series champion, believes IndyCar accomplished nearly half of its goals with the next aero kit.

"They wanted to make the racing better, make the car look better and get rid of some of that heavy stuff hanging off the back bumpers," he said.

IndyCar's "Era of Aero" began in 2015 when Honda and Chevrolet used two competitive kits to differentiate between the two brands while improving performance. Instead, it split the field in half with Chevrolet having a decided edge over Honda on the street, road courses and short ovals while Honda was competitive on the superspeedways in 2015.

Honda sought relief from IndyCar and was granted the ability to make changes outside of the three areas of the kit where each manufacturer was able to update. That closed the gap significantly in 2016, and those rules have been frozen for the 2017 season.

Early response from teams and fans has been positive to the initial design of the universal kit that makes the cars look sleeker and faster. Some believe it is the best-looking car since the Panoz DP01, the last chassis designed for the Champ Car Series before it went out of business in February 2008. Nearly all of Champ Car's teams joined the Indy Racing League to create today's Verizon IndyCar Series.

Power drove two races in Champ Car in 2005 and was a full-time competitor in the series in 2006 and 2007 before moving over to IndyCar with KV Racing in 2008. He joined Team Penske in 2009 and has established himself as one of the great drivers in this era with 29 wins and 45 poles.

"That DP01 was such a good car –- it's a real pity they didn't hang with that for a while," Power said.

There are some additional changes Power would like to see before the universal aero kit goes into production.

"I think the rear wing needs to be moved forward towards the engine," Power said. "That would help weight distribution and make the car look better. And the rear wing needs to be lower, not higher. Formula 1 has a lower, wider rear wing that makes the car look tough. When you get up to speed, something that sticks up like the rear wing makes it look weird."

One noteworthy change to the universal aero kit is the removal of the rear bumper guards. Those have been part of the original Dallara DW012 chassis since it began competition in 2012. It was designed to keep another car from running over the top of the rear wheels and getting launched, as what happened in the horrific 15-car pileup that killed two-time Indianapolis 500 winning driver Dan Wheldon at Las Vegas on Oct. 16, 2011.

Power went airborne in that crash and suffered a broken back. He is in favor of keeping the rear bumper guard for superspeedway races.

"The bumper guard did exactly what they wanted them to do because in a lot of cases (they) stopped cars from jumping over the back wheels," Power said. "It's not going to stop a car when there is a hu ge speed discrepancy. What else it did was stop cut tires.

"I think the original rear bumper was the right size and then they got out of control with this big one. I think on the superspeedways they should still have it. I really think so."

Power has expressed that viewpoint to IndyCar officials and he believes they are considering it. He is glad the holes drilled into the floor on superspeedways remain because "you can't have cars flying" but it is ok to fill them on street, road and short oval races. The holes on the bottom of the car create more drag if the car starts to come off the ground and pulls it back to the surface.

Source: Will Power is impressed by IndyCar's next-generation aero kit