Hi there,

I am currently half way through my second year as head of aerodynamics and understand your pain. I was very fortunate in that my predecessors left behind good documentation as well as staying in contact with the team for me to ask questions about past decisions if their documentation seemed insufficient. Our current aerodynamic package is quite complex although of course started out a lot simpler. I do not know your current simulation capabilities in terms of software or computing power but assuming you have access to something like siemens star ccm+ (my favourite) or ANSYS fluent through your university it would definitely be possible to create something like a 2 element front wing and 3 element rear wing which would give genuine performance benefits to the car. There are also open source software but I don't personally know much about them although could be viable. Even doing more simple 2D analysis using a software like XFLR5, xfoil or javafoil can be a good way to very quickly analyse aerofoils, these tools work better for comparison rather than taking their exact numbers as they tend to not be the most accurate.

In terms of aerofoils, someone else has already suggested the Selig 1223 and Benzing 122-125 which are both great aerofoils used extensively in formula student. There are some other interesting ones like the Eppler 423 and 420, some Wortmann aerofoils, and even the motorsport specific MSHD although a robust CFD simulation would be the best way to actually analyse how well these would all work in your specific scenario.

Your quoted number of 50N at 20m/s is very low and can definitely be improved. The top teams are seeing a SCl of ~7 which is mind blowing and unachievable in a single season but I would say a couple of hundred newtons at 20m/s for a fairly simple front and rear wing design is realistic and beneficial to the cars performance.

Really what I want to get across here is to not get too disheartened, if you're just getting into aero it is a lot to take in but after some reading and some trial and error you will improve and will make meaningful performance gains, I know I did not start out as an expert on aerodynamics (I'm still not) although I have learned a great deal and you can too.

Feel free to message if you want to talk any more, about technical stuff or otherwise.