New Release GT500 Carbon Fiber Elevated Wing Uprights – BTI Aerodinamica

[raidernixon]

Hi All,
I wanted to share the newest addition to my GT500, which is a set of elevated carbon fiber uprights made by BTI that were recently released for sale to the public. These uprights have been meticulously designed and tested to maintain the overall OEM upright look and improve on the OEM design while elevating the wing an additional 2 inches to match a similar height to the Mustang GT4 race car wing. The uprights are a direct bolt on with the original OEM hardware.
More information on the immense amount of design work and testing that went into the development of these over the past 1.5 years can be found at the following website, along with purchase information: https://www.btirace.com/aerodinamica

The OEM uprights are made by a process of injected molded carbon fiber and are painted black because the resulting finish does not match the exposed carbon fiber on the car. What makes the BTI Aerodinamica uprights special is that they are made of carbon that is forged in aluminum multi-piece molds which incorporates a skeleton made of carbon fiber, allowing for a clean exposed carbon fiber finish on the uprights, if desired. See the below comparison photos:

The uprights are available in four (4) “flavors”, including Black, “Naked” (forged carbon fiber), “Victory” (checkered flag carbon), and “Variant” (matches the OEM carbon fiber wing/wheels). See the below photo with the respective finishes left rear to right front:

Installation was a breeze and took me less than 30 minutes, even with a screwed up left hand (bike accident last November). The uprights use the factory mounting hardware and precisely fit on my car. Nothing had to be forced to fit. I couldn’t ask for an easier install.

Enough with my rambling. I will let the photos from my photo shoot last week speak for themselves. Full disclaimer: Despite how this post may come across, I am an actual customer that bought these at full cost and was not given these uprights in exchange for a review. I am wanting to spread the word on what I feel is an option that I was seeking for quite some time which finally became available and exceeded my expectations. You will see some of the below photos on BTI's website and I have given them permission to use them.

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[Epiphany]

Your photography skills are rather impressive. Those photos are extremely well done!

I'm drawn to the things you often don't see, in this case, the underside. I like the thickness and heavier than stock ribbing. The o-ring is done better than factory. It's a shame when you see the poor job the factory mod shop did on CFTP cars when they butchered the decklid holes that they "drilled" for the wing. And every time I have ever seen a pair of factory uprights removed, the o-ring on them is flattened and/or torn, allowing water to get in. Ford could learn a lesson here.

Finish on these looks fantastic. Nice to see someone do them in CF instead of two piece aluminum. Good stuff and thanks for the writeup!

 

[raidernixon]

Your photography skills are rather impressive. Those photos are extremely well done!

I'm drawn to the things you often don't see, in this case, the underside. I like the thickness and heavier than stock ribbing. The o-ring is done better than factory. It's a shame when you see the poor job the factory mod shop did on CFTP cars when they butchered the decklid holes that they "drilled" for the wing. And every time I have ever seen a pair of factory uprights removed, the o-ring on them is flattened and/or torn, allowing water to get in. Ford could learn a lesson here.

Finish on these looks fantastic. Nice to see someone do them in CF instead of two piece aluminum. Good stuff and thanks for the writeup!

Funny you should mention the underside and butchery on the factory decklid holes. Check out the below photos from when I removed the factory uprights and found corrosion starting to bubble up under the paint. The stupid little rubber washer O-rings were completely disintegrated and the stud had separated from the anchor on the driver side factory upright (I was able to screw it back in, but the nut had almost completely seized onto the stud given the level of corrosion).

I haven't decided how I am going to handle this yet but I feel like the is a corrosion warranty issue. As a note, my car has 2,010 miles on it, is garage kept, and has never seen rain. It really only comes out for track duty. Just light hose water from washings here and there.

I highly recommend that all CFTP owners check for this issue and if it hasn't developed yet, to put touch up paint or SOMETHING over the factory holes to prevent this. The factory O-ring is NOT preventing this. Upgrade your uprights while you are at it

 

[CaptDave]

Great write up and photos. I'm curious how these uprights compare to the Hyperion ones. I've still got the OEM ones on my car and have been thinking about upgrading. It looks like the Hyperion ones are a little taller, but these have a much beefier base?

 

[Epiphany]

Wow. That should absolutely be a covered issue but likely a battle that is worthy of a fight. The insert pulling out....first I've seen of that and not very confidence inspiring. Good thing you decided to upgrade!

I'm curious how these uprights compare to the Hyperion ones.

Subjectively speaking, I'm a fan of the use of CF here as opposed to aluminum, just like the factory chose to do. I also much prefer the aesthetic of the OEM design and in that regard the Hyperion ones go in a much different direction. The Aerodinamica uprights maintain the look of the original in terms of shape and I dig that as they don't change the balance visually aside from their taller stature. The finish and the fact that their are multiple choices - that's pretty f****** cool.

 

[CaptDave]

Subjectively speaking, I'm a fan of the use of CF here as opposed to aluminum, just like the factory chose to do. I also much prefer the aesthetic of the OEM design and in that regard the Hyperion ones go in a much different direction. The Aerodinamica uprights maintain the look of the original in terms of shape and I dig that as they don't change the balance visually aside from their taller stature. The finish and the fact that their are multiple choices - that's pretty f****** cool.

The finish and the amount of choices are quite cool. And you're definitely right, the Hyperion ones go in a much different direction. I'm not a huge fan of super tall wings, so I think the Aerodinamica uprights offer a better balance of added height, looks, and better protection from water intrusion.

 

[Jmeo]

Coming soon to a wide body near you............

 

[Tatonka]

*breathing intensifies*

 

[Tatonka]

Is there the opportunity for a possible group buy for forum members?

 

[kilobravo]

I will let the photos from my photo shoot last week speak for themselves.

Those photos are extremely well done!

Completely agree with Tob, Nixon helluva job with the camera. However, because the originals were edited, there was obviously no metadata for the camera and lens. My eyes (and the aspect ratios,) tell me these weren't camera phone images so, if you don't mind, would you tell us what hardware you used? TIA.

Check out the below photos from when I removed the factory uprights and found corrosion starting to bubble up under the paint.

Had the same problem and while I didn't get a Before photo of the horribly-drilled holes, here's a shot of the squashed gasket as Tob mentioned. No doubt yours looked very similar.

​

And here's one of the Hyperion uprights. I wanted a pair that were taller than OEM but again I agree with Tob, I like the BTI CF treatment better than Hyperion's.

As a note, my car has 2,010 miles on it

I thought my girl had pretty low mileage Nixon but your girl's odo-meter is fifty percent lower! Not much driving other than the track as you said but man, that's only about 450 a year. <smile>

Loved the photos and she looks very sinister <grin> and this was my favorite shot. Superb lighting on that lucky day <smiling again> and aside from the sight of a frickin' gorgeous CFTP, (which, based on the image, had to have been polished, <third smile>) I especially liked the killer reflections. Great background as well..good choice. :=)

 

[raidernixon]

Completely agree with Tob, Nixon helluva job with the camera. However, because the originals were edited, there was obviously no metadata for the camera and lens. My eyes (and the aspect ratios,) tell me these weren't camera phone images so, if you don't mind, would you tell us what hardware you used? TIA.


Had the same problem and while I didn't get a Before photo of the horribly-drilled holes, here's a shot of the squashed gasket as Tob mentioned. No doubt yours looked very similar.

​

And here's one of the Hyperion uprights. I wanted a pair that were taller than OEM but again I agree with Tob, I like the BTI CF treatment better than Hyperion's.

I thought my girl had pretty low mileage Nixon but your girl's odo-meter is fifty percent lower! Not much driving other than the track as you said but man, that's only about 450 a year. <smile>

Loved the photos and she looks very sinister <grin> and this was my favorite shot. Superb lighting on that lucky day <smiling again> and aside from the sight of a frickin' gorgeous CFTP, (which, based on the image, had to have been polished, <third smile>) I especially liked the killer reflections. Great background as well..good choice. :=)

Thanks for the comments!

My setup is fairly simple. I used a Nikon D5300. Most of the shots were done with a Nikon 35mm lens. For a few shots, I used a Nikon 50MM and 18-140mm lens. I have Vivitar Polarizing caps on each lens.

Golden hour was exceptional during the evening of this shoot. The clouds west of here were casting some interesting colors. I had to use a tripod to capture many of these shots to keep noise down. The above image was actually quite a pain to get, as the lighting was rapidly changing and made it very difficult to get a shot with virtually no noise to it.

I shoot in raw format with manual setting dictated by the camera's internal light meter. During each shoot, I will take a handful of reference photos with my cell phone (Samsung S22+). I then use Lightroom to adjust the colors and lighting of the raw photos to match the reference photos, as the phone does a pretty good job with lighting and colors, but fails to capture the detail and perspective of an SLR camera.

One day I will make my life easier and pull the trigger on a full frame sensor camera to replace the D5300; however, its hard to justify the cost when I can still get shots like these.

 

[CaptDave]

Went ahead and ordered a set of the "variant" this morning. Won't be able to install them until my car gets back from Shelby. But I think the OP's photos do them justice already.

 

[Epiphany]

And here's one of the Hyperion uprights. I wanted a pair that were taller than OEM but again I agree with Tob, I like the BTI CF treatment better than Hyperion's.

This has been an interesting journey for me. I liked the aesthetic of the S550 GT4 wing the moment I saw one of the first Multimatic GT4 car at Road Atlanta in 2017. Throughout the 2018 race season it became to me, a normal part of an incredible car. There was no GT500 yet but I knew it was coming and I knew I wanted the GT4 wing on one. It wasn't easy but I eventually made it all happen. So for me, the height of the wing always looked off on the CFTP cars - too low. Out of balance and in need of an upward bump. Not sky high, mind you, but rather a subtle raise to the original design elevation.

I knew the aftermarket would eventually catch on but that it might take some time. I absolutely love all things CNC'd and it made sense that we'd be seeing 6061-T6 versions first. Because a one piece would mean a lot of material waste, a two-piece made sense. Then you have a bit of creativity and style interjected into the mix. The result is offerings such as the Hyperion uprights. Interesting design, that ultimately gets the job done. For me, the look definitely catches your eye. It also looks a little out of balance on an otherwise unmodified exterior to me. Not dissing it, I just favor an OEM-ish aesthetic such as the original shape. So I'll say this KB about your quote above - your honesty is something you don't normally see in this realm. Guys that spend money on a given part will defend it to the death for whatever reason and don't normally acquiesce like you just did. Your car looks fantastic and I dig what you did with the wing/uprights. I plan on picking up a set of the BTI uprights to go with my hollow Anderson wing and to retire the Multimatic piece for now. There will some that don't like what I do and I am fine with that. Different strokes, you know?

 

[Epiphany]

Is there the opportunity for a possible group buy for forum members?

I spoke to BTI...they are not doing group buys.

 

[Evolvd]

When I installed my Hyperion mounts I used a piece of 3/16” sheet silicon I found on Amazon. I traced the using the base and then cut off the excess.

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