Quote:
|
Originally Posted by sperry
Either way ... I'm just being an ass.
|
Well, that's a given.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by sperry
I thought functionally, a spoiler "spoiled" the air, reducing overall drag by pushing the low pressure vortex off the back of the car. While a wing was more often used as a downforce device
|
Pretty close - closed fender sedan shape cars resemble an airfoil shape themselves, so when they move through the air at high speed, they generate positive lift just like an airplane wing. Like you were saying, typically spoilers "spoil" the high velocity, low pressure air moving over the top of the car, slowing it down and regaining pressure over the rear decklid, thus reducing rear end lift. The interesting thing about spoilers is that when designed right, they can actually shift the overall rear lift coefficient from overall positive (lift generating) to overall negative (true downforce generating) - and in some cases actually reduce the overall drag coefficient at the same time... which is counterintuitive since the spoiler is usually a big flat plate sticking up in the air. It all depends on the particulars of the car body shape, placement & dimensions of the spoiler.
Wings are much easier to understand, since they're just inverted airfoils... no drag reduction (only drag gain), just downforce generation.
Then when you start getting into front-end airdam, splitter, and underbody design, it gets really interesting...
