Tampere Formula Student is a student design team established in 2006 at Tampere University of Applied Sciences. Dedicated to fostering engineering talent, the organization designs and builds a state-of-the-art Formula Student race car annually.
The team consists exclusively of students from the Tampere higher education community. It is fully responsible for all aspects of the project, including organizational management, technical development, and fundraising. This hands-on experience gives members a unique platform to enhance their engineering skills and prepare them for professional challenges.
Each year, Tampere Formula Student proudly competes in renowned Formula Student competitions across Europe. With a hybrid race car designed for the internal combustion engine category, the team consistently measures its innovation and expertise against top universities worldwide. They placed second overall in FS Netherlands and secured second place in design at FS Austria, making TFS24 the most successful season to date. They earned a total of eight trophies.
At the start of the development phase, Tampere Formula Student identified several key challenges in its aerodynamic performance. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations did not correspond closely to track testing data, resulting in discrepancies that hindered accurate performance evaluation. Additionally, the team was not fully utilizing the potential of the rear wing and underbody, leaving room for optimization in these areas. The front wing was generating excessive downforce compared to the rest of the aerodynamic package, leading to an imbalance in overall efficiency. This was further reflected in the aerodynamic balance, which was heavily front-biased at approximately 70% on the front axle, far from the ideal 50%. These findings provided valuable insights and shaped the focus for targeted improvements in the subsequent design iteration.

Design Challenges
For the TFS24 season, Tampere Formula Student’s aero-package focused on enhancing overall vehicle performance. The team aimed to achieve better aerodynamic efficiency by refining the aerodynamics and reducing the weight of the aero-package. A key objective was to improve the aerodynamic balance, ensuring a more stable and efficient vehicle. In terms of CFD development, the focus shifted toward creating a more accurate model, with the goal of aligning simulation results more closely with real-world performance. Additionally, the team emphasized validating their CFD simulations through track testing, ensuring that the theoretical improvements translated effectively into on-track performance.
How SimScale Simulations Led to Success
For the TFS24 CFD simulations, Tampere Formula Student focused on refining their approach to achieve more accurate and comprehensive results. The simulations were run at a speed of 15 m/s, utilizing the K-Omega SST turbulence model to capture flow characteristics effectively. The Y+ value was set to 1 on the car surfaces, ensuring full resolution with no-slip conditions for optimal accuracy. The team conducted full-car simulations, incorporating rotating wheels and both the front and rear driveshafts to simulate real-world dynamics accurately. Additionally, the radiators were modeled with fans to simulate cooling effects, while roll and yaw aero-maps were generated to assess aerodynamic performance under various dynamic conditions. This detailed simulation strategy aimed to provide a thorough understanding of the car’s aerodynamic behavior.
“SimScale provided us with all the necessary tools for the development of our ‘Aero’ package. The cloud-based nature of the software allowed us to run simulations efficiently without the need for a separate cluster or an in-house server. This seamless access to powerful simulation capabilities played a crucial role in enhancing the team’s design process and ensuring optimal aerodynamic performance.”
– Lauri Luoma-aho, Aerodynamics Lead Engineer
Additionally, the team implemented region refinements in the wake areas and refined boundary layers, which contributed to more accurate simulations and enabled a better understanding of the car’s aerodynamic behavior.
Tampere Formula Student’s on-track validation highlighted the accuracy of their simulations. The team conducted constant velocity runs with the simulation speed, using vehicle speed data from the front wheel speed sensors. They also calculated downforce by measuring suspension potentiometer compression and axle spring rates. This helped them confirm their CFD results’ reliability and precision, reinforcing the value of their simulation-driven design approach.
Tampere Formula Students also validated their CFD setup through tuft testing. This hands-on approach confirmed the accuracy of their simulations, providing additional confidence in the reliability of their aerodynamic models.
The standard simulation time for full car simulations was 8–10 hours, utilizing approximately 140 core hours per simulation. Compared to the TFS23 car, the aero package’s performance increased by approximately 57%. Progressive improvements to the simulation setup throughout the season contributed to this achievement, providing valuable knowledge.
Tampere Formula Student has set ambitious goals for TFS25 and is working diligently to continue the upward trend in its team’s performance. The team will continue utilizing SimScale’s CFD software to develop its aero-package and has big aspirations for the performance of its next iteration. This ongoing commitment to innovation and optimization underscores its dedication to achieving greater success in future competitions.