Spoilers and wings on road cars

[obi_waynne]

What are your thoughts on the performance benefits of spoilers and wings on road cars?

Do they actually help out or are you talking about illegal speeds before they start doing anything noticable?

 

[old-git]

If fitted as standard they should be of some benefit at high speeds (assuming the manufacturer has spent time in a wind tunnel fine tuning the design).

If fitted by the owner there will be no benefit. There will be exceptions, I accept, but so few that overall they are swamped by the useless ones.

A properly designed wing or spoiler will have an effect, even at low speeds, on a race/track car but the improvement would not be noticable on a road car used on the highway at legal speeds. Anyone who says different is deluding themselves, IMO

A badly designed and fitted wing or spoiler can actually have a detrimental effect on a car's performance/handling.

 

[T9 man]

Not sure I really like the whole Darth Vader type monster spoiler/wings that I see on the back of some cars yet I appreciate they have a use towards performance. I have a subtle boot lip version on mine which is an exact carbon fibre copy of the manufacturers OEM.

 

[SLEEPER]

+1 with og s comments .
A proper spoiler system works at speed . My stagea has a fctory nismo kit and was absolutely stuck to the floor on the marham aifield last year. It felt like you cold take your hands off the steering wheel at 165 ( but i didnt )

 

[davalav]

I think for looks, only some cars can pull off spoilers. My little ZR has a spoiler, but that looks good.

Subaru Impreza's
Mitsubishi Evo's
Skylines
Toyota Supra's
Cobalt SS

Probably others, and probably a bit biased as I like those cars!

On the performance side, I doubt the spoilers on these cars do much any way. Only on a serious race car, will they need the downforce.

 

[T9 man]

This is bugging me now :embarrest:

All this talk of spoilers and wings made me think of an American car in a movie which was quite famous, yet for the life of me I cannot remember the movie or the car (Plymouth possibly) just that big rear wing :embarrest:
I thought for one moment it was "Vanishing Point" but a quick You Tube search and this was not the car I was thinking off. Any idea guys?

 

[davalav]

All I can think of is the Plymouth Fire/Super bird I think it was called! Bright yellow! Something from a 70's movie? Google is very useful!

 

[T9 man]

Tried and failed, I will try another search string and see if I fair any better.

 

[old-git]

 

[T9 man]

One down and now just one to go! :bigsmile:
Any idea of the movie I was thinking off OG?

 

[old-git]

Can't find any movie featuring this car, except Cars

 

[T9 man]

:sad2: Thanks anyway OG

 

[Aerial Andy944]

There was a Roadrunner Superbird in The Mexican, MacGruber and Gone in Sixty Seconds. All hail the Goooooogle http://www.imcdb.org/vehicles_make-Plymouth_model-Road+Runner+Superbird.html