removing the rear spoiler and mpg
 

ok, i didnt like the way the factory ss spoiler looked and it blocked the veiw something bad. then i talked to a friend with a stang and he told me when he removed his for racing it gave him .1 second in a 1/4. so i thought that must be worth at least one mpg. i removed mine a couple of weeks ago and put it to the test this weekend. the car was bone stock other then removing the spoiler. the before mpg across hwy 40 between nashville and knoxville was a personal best of 27.7, with out the spoiler i averaged 29.7 at 80-90 mph. so who wants to be brave and try removing the mirrors and seeing what they get.

jim

What did you do to the holes left behind from the wing - stuff them with Q-Tips?? :lol:

lol, might as well get rid of the antennas too. ;)

I think the wind resistance on the mirrors and spoiler is minimal considering we are not consistently traveling at 100mph.

Also, spoilers are supposed to create wind resistance which in turn converts to down force. The term "spoiler" represents the disruption of airflow across a plane. Although spoilers are not functional on most cars, especially FWD, down force is important under high speed conditions to maintain stability.

I got about the same results when I took the wing off of my SRT-4. About 2.5mpg and about .1 in the 1/4.

But a spoiler on a FWD car :P LOL for all you know you pushing CoG to the rear and lifting up your operating wheels!!! LOL :P

The wing on the CSS does not appear to create any downforce, however it will disrupt the airflow over the car and reduce the tendency to lift. A subtle distinction, but an important one.

Remember that as your car breaks in your MPG will go up as well...

that's odd. when i added my spoiler ii was like 2 seconds faster than w/out it. http://img210.imageshack.us/img210/1858/hsugh9dn.gif

seriously though, i hightly doubt you will be .1 seconds faster in the 1/4 mile just from removing your spoiler unless your spoiler weighs like 100 lbs. not every run you do is the same so you just did better the time you ran it w/out the spoiler.

The wing on the CSS is mostly cosmetic to my knowledge. However, the trailing edge of the wing is angled up which 'should' create down force like an aircraft's horizontal stabilizers. Despite it's design or intention, I believe it only receives turbulated air at best because of it's orientation on the car, which makes it inefficient. Compounding it's inefficiency as aforementioned, is the fact that it's a FWD car ;)

I highly doubt that spoiler is providing any down force or serves any other useful purpose at all. It's gotta be about the cheapest plastic I've ever seen, bounces around in the wind like mad. If anything, it's got to be more disruptive to driving dynamics than helpful.

q tips????
 

na no q tips, got those plastic body panel covers, the big ones, no it dont look the greatest but i plan to go to carbonfiber lids any how when there out.

think of that spoiler as a 2x12 on edge, you still have to pull it through the air and that makes for drag. and apparently alot of it cause i thought at best i would get 1 mpg not 2.

Im thinking about removing my rear spoiler. Almost got a speeding ticket from almost missing the cop coming up from behind me last week driving home from michigan. Im thinking about replacing the "ricer" SS wing with an LS rear wing (looks alot nicer i think). I measured it and the holes like up.

Jeff
SS/SC
:cssNET:
2600 miles and not 1 problem and loving it!