What is the point to the rear wing on front wheel drive cars? The wing is fro downforce on the back tires, right? Therefore, removing pressure on the front tires, which mean better traction. How is that a good thing for our cars. Let me know, and please don't flame.

 

Looks, not functionality.

 

oh ok i didnt think so, but maybe it will serve some kind of purpose deep down inside

 

i would think that it help keep the back end down just like the weight of the engine does to the front. just to keep the wholecar planted on the ground. just my theory. i dunno. more for looks than anything.

 

sex appeal?!

im going to put my ss/sc spoiler on the hood of my car! (yes thats a joke)

 

It's just for looks man...

 

I have found high school girls really like it. Too bad high school was along time ago. lol

 

try driving your ss at 150+ with out it and if you live let me know.

 

^^^ I'll just choose to stay alive by doing reasonable speeds TY.

 

160+ and have someone else look out the back window and see the thing flex ... it may suck for vision and not look 'cool' but at that speed you really are glad you have it ...

- Solo

 

so it offers functionallity?

 

On our cars, it is looks. However, they must work because if you look at the front wheel drive cars in SCCA or other pro racing series they have big wings.......I'm sure they need that downforce for handling...


Our spoiler is useless and for looks only though

 

i dont think it is completely uselss considering the cobalt in the grand am races are running them

 

wings are for high speeds, provides stablity. wings in drag racing are for downforce, thats why you dont see front wheel drive cars in drag racing with large wings, road racers have them for high speed stablity. the sc wing could proably be smaller so it is about 50% looks.

 

^^^^^ agreed

Just because tis FWD doesn't mean the back doesn't need downforce to stay on the ground. Try swerving going 60, you'll notice the back end gets a bit wavey, now imagine going 120 and doing it. The downforce from the spoiler should help in those situations...still not a safe thing to do though so dont really try it.

 

Even at 150+ you are going to recieve minimal downforce from that wing. It is not shaped into an aerofoli which is the proper shape of a wing. Since the wing is not correctly shaped it could just as easily produce lift as it would downforce. If you want a wing that does produce downforce get a wing similar to the one on the C6-R. That is designed to create maximum downforce with minimal airflow over it.

 

it also helps the air flow over the top of the car smoother, at least that is part of the fuctionality of a real rear spoiler.

 

The wing on the ss/sc becomes functional around 120mph. If you cut the wheel a little at that speed to change lanes quickly or something like that, you want the rear end to be planted as firm as possible front wheel drive or not. That's what it's there for.

 

havent we gone thru this before???

your cars suspension is not a seesaw. when back goes down the front doesnt come up. and these spoilers on our cars are mostly for looks. as are spoilers on most stock cars, theyre neutral and dont provide much lift or drag. spoilers work wether they are on fwd or rwd cars in the same way. and they dont only work at high speeds. if you need downforce at lower speeds youll need a bigger spoiler to catch more air to force the car down. many people in scca use rather large spoilers because theyre not traveling to fast with the amatuers. most times they just create drag and kill your top speed. the 01 cobras couldnt hit 155 with the spoiler. you had to delete it to run into the limiter. im not sure if the 03/04s are like that as well tho. probably not, they had the nuts to hit the limiter

 

03 cobras hit limiter with wing and they get there pretty quick...

 

mythbusters did a test about spoilers and what they actually do.
They found that unless you are going 100 + at a consistent clip that 90% of spoilers do nothing. So no wing on any car is very useful

 

unless its large enough to take advantage of the airflow. i think the evo and sti's wings got more useful at lower speeds with the vortex generators they put on the back of the roof. i still think most cars look cleaner without them and my cars only got one cause it came with it. i didnt want any options and certainly not pocket padding like a useless spoiler. but that and the smokers package are the only options ive got. so that makes my cobalt about the most worthless here id imagine.

 

i was reading about wings on fwd cars, and such. they said the srt-4 dodge big gay wing acutally puts about 800lbs of downforce on the cars rear end at 80mph on a street course. also from what i read.. a wing is pretty useless performance wise unless your looking at heavy duty autocrossing, and street courses. but yah its mostly looks.

 

what mythbusters was that. I like that show and havent seen that one.