[CFD Newbie]

Hello everyone,

Just wanted to ask people with background in aero cfd if they had used (and their experience with) Powerflow from company Exa. They claim to have 14 of the top 15 car manufacturers in the world as their customers, but I know that Audi switched from Powerflow to Openfoam.

1. Is Powerflow better than traditional aero-simulation software aka Star-CD, Fluent or Cfx?
2. Is LBE better / more accurate than Navier Stokes for aero-simulation?
3. If you are one of Powerflow's commercial users (for example in one of these car companies) - what software did you use before Powerflow? Are you also using their aero-acoustic/thermal features? What do you think of them? Also, how critical is Powerflow to your design process? Can you survive using what you used earlier? Can you use Openfoam like Audi - if so why dont you use that?

Thanks very much!

Regards,

Wannabe Aerodynamic Expert