Spoilers and front wheel drive cars?

[AudioBitch]

I drive around these days and all i see are spoilers on cars that they dont' belong on. a front wheel drive car does NOT need a spoiler...it's quite stupid
the last thing you want on a front wheel drive car is down force on the rear wheels. spoilers were designe to hold the rear end down of a rear wheel drive car as it gets up to high speeds.

another thing with spoilers...what's with the 3 foot high plane wings?...they look really stupid..and serve no purpose at all
it looks quite ugly to me...if u want a spoiler...get a rear wheel drive car

take that piece of tacked on plastic off the back of your front wheel drive car and not look like a moron...u'll save gas too


anyone have an argument supporting spoilers on front wheel drive cars?

 

[Soybomb]

Actually I feel as though I should be calling you some of those choice names you used. you see my front wheel drive car has a spoiler and it really does help. It is mounted on the front of the car at the bottom of the car's nose, sometimes they are referred to as an air dam as well. And to say a car, no matter where its driven wheels are doesn't need downforce is a bit uneducated as well. Imagine you're driving downt he road in your FWD car then the rear end starts "floating" around on you. Thats not going to make for very precise steering now is it?

edit: you say large spoilers aren't useful as well, go reab about teh dodge charger daytona. It had a very useful, yet very large spoiler.

 

[20_MuleTeam_Borax]

AB,

I don't know much about the physics involved, but that blue car w/ the big wings we saw on 81 was really ugly. I wanted to bash it w/ my car.

 

[AudioBitch]

if the rear end is floating around on a FWD car...its not because it doesn't have a spoiler.

downforce on a front wheel drive car is not needed

The dodge dayton's spoiler did not do anything...it was identical to the Road Runner's...and i have read that there was no explanation for it other than a radical design...it was too high in the air to be effective

a mitsubishi eclipse with a 3 foot spoiler is pointless...especially because it is a front wheel drive car

the spoiler on your car is not a "spoiler" per say...it is an air dam...and it is holding down the FRONT wheels...and not the rear wheels
that makes sense because it is a Front wheel drive car.

also, i kno of no roads that you can drive fast enough for a spoiler even on a rear wheel drive car to be effective...you must hit very high speeds

 

[optoman]

<< I wanted to bash it w/ my car. >>



LOL, I would love to see that. Those cars are so ugly when the fins are a foot above the trunk.

I also have a spoiler on the back of my 98 Jetta and I have been told at high speeds it helps to grip the road in high speed turns. I don't know if its true or not but I would rather have the added safety of better handling. I also think it looks cool because not all 98 Jettas have the spoiler. I think only the V6 models and the special edition models came with them.

If you really wanted to save gas then stop driving everywhere and try to bike it!

 

[AudioBitch]

haha..tried biking..it sucked

i doubt the volkswagen needs the spoiler..its just plastic and probly not tuned correctly...spoilers are mostly used for decoration now...&quot;sporty&quot; look

however..yer car sounds pretty awesome
those vagens have some nice speed

 

[Antisocial Virge]

I actually read where that huge wing on the old dodges actually slowed down the cars

 

[yakko]

The spoiler on the Road Runner/Charger was designed that way for one simple reason. So you could open the trunk. Front wheel drive cars will need a wing in the same instances that a rear wheel drive car will. At high speeds it does not matter which are your drive wheels. The rear wheel drive car will nees a bigger one but they will both benifit. If you doubt this check out some of the cars in the BTCC. Most were FWD and they had wings on the back.

 

[-SpYrL-]

The point is that Spoilers are for very fast cars that may be used for racing. They are not needed for everyday driving. Espescially not the air plane wings that could be used as a tailgate.

-SpYrL-

 

[optoman]

Would you call 135mph in a Jetta as high speed driving?

 

[BoberFett]

My Saturn 4door has spoiler. Obviously it does nothing. It's only for looks.

 

[Zucchini]

Yup, i hope your not talking about factory spoilers, those just are trim, but they look good.

 

[vi edit]

Has it ever occurred to you that 99.2% of us who drive FWD cars could really give a rats ass whether or not the spoiler serves an actual mechanical purpose?

On many cars spoilers tend to make them look a little sportier and make them stand out a little more than the same model car w/out a spoiler.

Also, I tend to notice the break lights better on a car that has the break built into the spoiler.

Just my $.02

 

[optoman]

Are the spoilers on the Porches just for looks. I think the Boxster has one that pops up when you hit a certain speed. I think that one is more for performance than looks but is it really necessary?

 

[LAUST]

K this is a Spoiler... Spoiled the looks of the car that is

 

[geno]

Spoilers do serve a purpose on FWD cars. See, the rear end of most FWD cars is incredibly light, with most of the weight residing on the front end. When cornering at high speed, the rear end can slip out on you easily if you have no downforce. No I agree with you that 95% of the spoilers you see on the street never get a chance to do their job, but oh well - to each his own.

 

[Soybomb]

AB: What? Too high? What is there no air up that high?


<< downforce on a front wheel drive car is not needed >>

What again? So why do you think you don't need your rear wheels firmly planted on the ground? Actually the spoiler on the Daytona was completely and totally functional. It kept the rear wheels from leaving the ground, thats why it held a speed record for like 13 years. Yes it did actually increase teh cars drag coefficient but without it the car wouldnt have went as fast!

 

[Imported]

Cause it looks good. I couldn't imagine the new Celica GT-S without a spoiler. It doesn't look right without one.

 

[SuperTool]

>>the last thing you want on a front wheel drive car is down force on the rear wheels.
Girls don't know that, now do they?

 

[Chooie]

Also, on Hennessey's Viper Venoms, the spoiler is raised up to be even with the roofline to get it *into* the airflow, where it can actually do some good...

 

[warlord]

Until you exceed 100mph a spoiler on any car does pretty much nothing but add look to the car. put one on the front or the back of your front or rear wheel drive car, its still not going to do anything.

let me put it into perspective for you &quot;it DOES make a difference&quot; people. the wing on a 911 doesn't come up until 45 (or maybe 55, I don't remember exactly), before then its totally ineffective. they didn't do this to look cool, or to add one more thing to be fixed, you have to start moving enough air over the spoiler to make a diff. one of the reasons that the wing raises so early on a 911 is because where your car is designed like an airfoil, it is rather subject to cross winds, thus altering this shape helps add downforce, by reducing lift. its also a german car, where on the audobon the speed limit is defined by the drivers courage and ability, so they can easily reach speeds where it comes into play.

the spoiler on your car driven on the streets here in the US, or most places for that matter makes absolutely no difference. you can continue to believe it does if it helps your ego, but make sure to do the research about speed and spoiler effectiveness before you boast how much it helps.

 

[yakko]

LAUST,

That is not a spoiler it is a handle.


Most factory spoilers are actually set to be neutral. No lift. No downforce. In other words they are for looks only even if you drive in excess of 200mph. I can't remeber which car magazine I read this in but it was one of the well respected ones(Road &amp; Track, Car &amp; Driver, European Car)

 

[jonnyGURU]

I like to think of those spoilers as &quot;God's Handle&quot;.

 

[nateholtrop]

Some of us have front wheel drive cars that came with the car STRAIGHT FROM GM!!! my sunfire came standard with one so....otherwise it you dont have one on your sunfire it looks..i dont know odd..i know some ppl hate sunfire's but mine kicks ass.

sunfire

imho

nate

 

[jonnyGURU]

Come on Nate.

That's GM.

Everyone knows that GM doesn't count when talking about functionality in design. :Q