Rear Wing Question

[r_speedfreak_r]

Hey all.

Just chasing some advice from people in the know. Has anyone had any track experience with their skyline who went from their stock spoiler to a stealth wing/flush boot, or to a different style rear wing, eg gts style to gtr style, gt-wing etc. I just want to know if the nissan engineers put all their time and effort into aerodynamic studies and put a rear wing on the skylines because it works with the body shape and creates good downforce or if like many new cars today they just put it on purely for looks and marketing.

Just so everyone knows yes i do enjoy track work and my car has always been built aroud practicality over looks.

Cheers

Daniel

[R TUNE]

hey mate

i havn't tryed any of the stock wings and i had a R31 skyline.

put a GT wing and did notice a bit of a diffrence, rear end didn't squrm as much on high speed corners.

so yea theywork over about 120km/h depending on spoiler type

[On Edge]

this would be interesting i have the gtr wing and am really curious if it actually does anything....

[Spunky Munky]

Now, this is an interesting question...one that I have done some reserch on so here are my limited findings...

1. As everyone knows or ought to you, a spoiler is to there (traditionally and physically) to increase downforce and basically cut the air as it flows onto and then over the vehicle's roof. It's purpose is to guide the downforce and diffuse it from the car's roof towards the car's rear hence adding aerodynamics and stablity. So yes, it does have a purpose.

2. A vehicle's spoiler ought to be engineered according to the vehicle's shape. A vehicle's shape affects how aerodynamic it is during high speeds, so the spoiler should be engineered to work with the contour of a vehicle's body to add aerodynamics and stability whilst increasing downforce which would ultimately mean that the car would be more steady when travelling and, in theory, therefore would consume less fuel to move forward. So yes, the shape or design of a rear spoiler is important.

3. A lot of people do not know that a rear spoiler and a wing are totally different items. In short (and you can click on the link below for more details), in race cars, often big gigantic wings are fitted. This is to help level the car and to keep it stable and as close to the ground as possible during sharp turns at high speeds. Somewhat similiar to the wings on an aeroplane, levelling and control are amongst some of the things the wing is designed for. Whereas, the main purpose of the spoiler is aerodynamics, to guilde and defuse gathered air from the roof of a vehicle towards the rear of the car. Althoug it also helps stablises the car - it's main purpose is aerodynamics.

In my personal opinion, the R33 looks best with the GTR wing. Moreover, the GTR wing blends in nicely with the contours and shape of the R33 Skyline hence adding aerodynamics so the R33 GTR wing would be the ultimate spoiler for the R33 Skyline hands down. Anything else would be for looks or personal preference. HOWEVER, and I must stress this...all of the above is relative when you're doing like 100 km/h or more. Anything lower and aerodynamics wouldn't really be an issue or noticeable.

On a personal note, I used to have a GT wing on my car years ago. I took it down some roads that allowed like 120 km/h driving and can tell you that it felt as if the wing was actually creating more friction and you can actually feel the car tilting side to side a bit with high winds. To test the theory, a few months ago, I took my Skyline down the same road with a GTR wing on and felt that the car was more steady to drive and felt more stable. Now, whether this was due to the rear wing/spoiler - I don't know.

REF: http://www.autoanything.com/body-kits/51A23.aspx

I hope I have put your query to ease somewhat. I personally would not let anything besides a R33 GTR wing grace my R33 GTR. Period.

Cheers,

Kevin

Edited December 9, 2009 by Spunky Munky