Does it induce drag, making the car slower in the 1/4? I emailed Wings West about it and they told me the best solution was to run the 1/4 now, without it, and then run it again, with it, to see if it makes the car slower or not. I REALLY REALLY don't wanna waste $900 on "maybe" theory, so please, and owners of this kit please get ahold of me asap!

 

Thanks!!

Correct me if I'm wrong here, but I thought that was the whole point of fitting these kits??? Big spoilers on the arse end etc. are supposed to provide more down force, and the kits are supposed to make the car more aerodynamic, or is it all just a cosmetic thing!

 

I wouldn't have thought so seeing as most racing teams whether they be rally or TOC etc. seem to use them???

 

Tim

;-)

 

I'm sure that all of the companies that have done lots of aerodynamic wind tunnel testing (which is extreemly expensive) will shout about it. The rest have created pretty (sometimes) or outrageous styling kits.

 

As Tim mentioned more downforce is usually a good thing, but this does mean more drag - you don't get something for nothing. A barndoor on the front with nowhere for the air to go except through the radiator is great for cooling, but there's gonna be much less drag if the air can wazz over, or under the car unimpeeded.

To my knowledge, Strosek is the only company that did extensive research to improve aerodynamics of the Z. (that's probably why their kit looks so slik)

 

-Eric

andyp, downforce will not necessarily create more drag (my two cents lol) but there cant be many aftermarket companies that have tested these products so i recont hey are all cosmetic, unless they can prove otherwise. besides i would have thaught that over the distance oif a 1/4mile aerodynamics would not matter too much..... i mean you trap speed is not that high at 400metres and downforce is only generated at certain speeds (im not sure what speed though) on the z, (or downforce that equals weight=speed=ratio of whatever im talking about lol

I was generalising, and didn't necessarily mean aerodynamic drag, but F1 cars generally go faster when they can run less downforce. Basically, the more force there is pushing the car to the ground, then the harder it is to move it from that position. Think about a hovercraft, the concept is similar. When running it skates about all over the place, when turned off there is effectively downforce and it's difficult to move.

 

As you said downforce is only created at high-ish speeds. If the spoilers were efficient enough to create it at 40, then it was run at 140 the car would dig itself into the ground. Probably a good example is the rallycross and stock cars that sometimes have huge spoilers at about 45 degrees - they go much slower and so need more downforce at those speeds.

yup you are right on, what i meant was the whole idea is to creat as much downforce, while generating as little drag as possible,

just like the pic of my signature here.

 

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I emailed Wings West about it, and I can tell they didn't test it. This is the repsonse I got :

 

We design our kits for looks and not for function. I couldn't tell you if it would slow you down or speed you up. Get an E.T. now. Buy my kit and get an E.T. with it on. That's the only way we both will know for sure. Sorry I couldn't help you out more.

 

 

Basically, he's saying buy the kit just cause, it might cause drag, it might not. So I wanted to do a little research about it.. You guys have been a great help.

On the other hand, if the car looks a million dollars with it then great. If it only does 140 rather than 160, who cares ????

 

I agree entirely with that last statement Andy, are we all off to the wind tunnel then straight after having a kit or spoiler fitted? Me thinks not somehow! Jeez, some of us take things just a little too seriously...chill for gods sake! Who cares if you Drag Co. is 0.42 instead of 0.32...I'm more bothered about how many golf balls I'm gonna lose per round, especially when they're Nike and Taylor Made which equates to about 3 squid a ball! LMFAO!

 

Tim

 

P.S. IMHO 1/4 mile times are the most arseish thing ever invented as proved by Mr. J R Clarkson on a video that I've got. Doesn't matter much if you've got a 1000bhp Skylark painted like a Jif lemon or a cheapo nastey Caterham, they all do it within a second or two of each other. Get a f**kin' R1, Blackbird or Hayabusa for a fraction of the price and be happy forever, safe in the knowledge that you are the fastest thing on the road on wheels! LOL!

 

 

 

[This message has been edited by Timmy_Turbo (edited 26-07-2001).]