Chevrolet Gives Z/28 a Flowtie Badge

Chevrolet Flowtie Badge on Z28 (Credit: © General Motors)

Chevrolet has divulged quite a few details of the new 2014 Camaro Z/28, including that the front badge is different from the bowtie badge used on any previous Chevy vehicle. The new badge design came about after the Z/28 was tested for aerodynamics. Engineers noticed that the traditional bowtie badge was blocking some air from flowing to the radiator, which for a track car can make a huge performance impact in a negative way.

Instead of just doing without the iconic bowtie badge, one engineer thought of a simple solution. The interior portion of the badge was cut out, leaving only the edges, allowing air to flow freely to the radiator. After fabricating a prototype “Flowtie”, as the badge design is called inside Chevrolet, engineers validated that it worked beautifully.

The new design for the badge has led to a 2 degree Fahrenheit temperature drop for the engine’s coolant and oil during long track sessions. It also allows for three more cubic meters of air to flow into the engine every minute. While it might not seem like much of a benefit, the Chevrolet engineers felt it warranted making the Flowtie the standard badge for the front grille.

“There are engineers in our team that race as a hobby, and we used that racer’s mindset to look for ways small or large to get better performance out of the Z/28. Even the smallest details on the Z/28 were weighed for cooling benefit, and this is one that stuck,” said Richard Quinn, Power-train Cooling Development engineer.