do spoilers create drag?

[Ryan abandoned account]

This thread is great. Reminds me of Rice Boy

http://www.riceboypage.com/index.html

 

[TurboQuattro]

Non-aerodynamic drag is the friction between your tires and the road, more weight on the tires equals more rolling resistance or friction. It takes more energy to move a heavier car down the road, this is well known...well, if you increase downforce, you increase the weight on the tires therefore increasing rolling resistance.

Some race cars create so much downforce that they could drive upside down in a tunnel at speed.

 

[Jzero]

<< The sort of spoilers/wings (are we even talkinga bout the same thing? I think...) like on a porsche that pops up once you hit a certain speed is shaped quite simply and simply takes some of the windforce by pushing the car harder onto the road but also increases drag. >>



Sorry, I often use spoiler and wing interchangeably (since a spoiler is essentially an upside-down wing).

The other part of the downforce != drag argument is that if you took the same spoiler and flipped it over, you'd have the same drag, but your rear wheels would fly off the ground since now the spoiler is creating positive lift

When you extend the flaps on an airplane to land, you increase the surface are of the wing (increasing your lift and increasing your stall speed) while increasing your horizontal drag, which slows you down. The result--you can keep a high angle of attack without stalling, allowing you to land with the nose up, saving you from nose-diving into the strip.

Physics is fun for mentals baby!

 

[Zenmervolt]

Yes, a truely useful spoiler creates downforce at the expense of drag, witness NASCAR spoilers, when adjusted for downforce, they decrease top speed. However, if you have an inefficient aerodynamic design to start with, you can increase downforce and decrease drag at the same time. Using NASCAR as an example again, when the cars qualify for a race, the radiator inlets are taped over, which decreases drag and increases front end downforce. Of course, you can't tape over the inlets except for very short (probably under 10 laps) runs because the engine will overheat, which explains why those holes are there to begin with.

Zenmervolt

 

[LordMaul]

<< Dunno... but "Type-R" stickers definitely make your car go faster. >>




Yes, but putting a BMW badge on the back of your lowered w/ neon green and bright red painted Civic adds at LEAST 50 Horse Power!