In this paper, aerodynamic loads of a generic car model obtained from advanced computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations are coupled to a vehicle dynamics model to enable the assessment of the on-road response. The influence of four rear configurations is studied. The different configurations yield large differences in yaw moments and side forces, which in turn result in considerable discrepancies in lateral displacements as well as yaw rates. From the simulations, it is seen that through balancing the location of the centre of pressure, the stiffness of the suspension bushings and the cornering stiffness of the tyres, it is possible to obtain stable vehicles in strong crosswind conditions for all four rear designs. The results show that monitoring the location of the aerodynamic centre of pressure with respect to the centre of gravity and the neutral steer point is essential for the possibility of designing stable vehicles in transient crosswind.
QC 20170505