lol, thats quality, always fancied a nova! I reckon with an undertay it'd be even more effective, more area -> less lift. and less drag as well. I need to do something with mine cos I just widetracked it and from the front i can now see the whole width of the tyre! that cant be good for drag/lift!
just spotted this on "www.fibre-lyte.co.uk" looks like a good design, I like the idea of the turning vanes to guide the air flow up and over the wheel. I'd imagine the side fences must help increase the pressure. apparently BMW are looking at "air curtains", channelling air through a tall narrow openings in front of the wheel to create like a virtual wheel fairing of air. could do a similar thing using those side fences
I went to see some racing at Cadwell when there were some old ex-touring cars on the bill, the Vauxhall’s + one Nissan have a front splitter that isn’t fixed, they can be wound down on wire cables to allow access to the under side of the car, clever stuff.
Thats the kind of thing I was thinking about - only extended backwards as a flat undertray to the subframe - likewise, just going to make one (within regs) and see how it goes - was also going to make it so that I could add a flexible rubber dam on the end of the splitter like that scooby has, and is commonly seen on tarmac rally cars - to see if that has an effect also
Nothing to loose by giving it a go Rob. It certainly worked on my old nova-box. Do the Regs allow the rubber dam?
rubber dam is ok so long as its not lower than 40mm off the deck - but for speedbumps etc it might be better to have the splitter at say 80-100mm with a 40mm rubber dam below
looks like some good aero stuff in this months racecar engineer magazine, they've got a hillclimb mini in the wind tunnel at MIRA and trying to improve it. stuff about the bonnet is interesting. p.s. if you register as a student you get to see 3 copies on line for free, use that information as you see fit
Have started the front diffuser project - pics soon but here's a few that formed some of the inspiration: Ibiza kit car sump guard brace (a bit too substantial but gives a few ideas for a front support) As does Mk3 golf kit car Then a few decent looking diffusers from the net: Honda touring car I seem to recall. Venturi's into the wheel arches, front splitter for external downforce, and a triangular-shaped air expansion/acceleration zone that looks to accelerate air under the car towards the center of the car and towards the point between the front wheels (where you would want max air velocity for a downforce effect on the front wheels) Some pre-made effort - what looks to be totally flat center with a couple of efforts for diffusers into the wheel wells - unlikely to offer any downforce as such IMO, but may reduce lift / front airflow turbulence Interesting one - from a Honda S2000. Clear effort to accelerate air as it goes under the car and fences to contain the accelerated air - nice and simple and probably works Think this was off a skyline. Not bad also - aceleration zone further forward than on the S2000 example above, along with an external downforce front splitter. Probably not as good as the Honda one? Like a rear diffuser.....but at the front Anyone in the house that knows any (real) aerodynamics?
Im working on a new one for the MK3, yes only a home made effort but worth a try, I've yet to fit the canards and supports. This one was a test, i've now laminated two together for strength.
thats cool - are you worried it might pull the front bumper off? a friend told me that if a front splitter is working, it needs to be strong enough to stand on - this is why I was wondering if a front support like sump guard support would be needed (albeit a bit less heavy duty)
Hmmm not thought about that, i'll have to do a trackday to test it. I remember last year at Brands a bloke was standing on a Leon working on the engine whilst the car was being pushed around the paddock.
The Mk2 leon cupra has a completely flat undertray in 3 sections - front section 15.4kg, mid section 15kg and rear section/diffuser 8kg - 38.4kg plus a few nuts and bolts and brackets....could be 40kg and that is made with exotic materials Thats a lot of weight to add to a car.......I actually keep stopping the project wondering if the aero benefit will be worth the weight penalty (especially with a valver that doesn't have the power of a turbo car)
Well its not quite finished, but its nearly there: splitter will end up 120mm off the floor and flat floor extends back to front subframe the front edge sticks forward about 3" from the bottom of the bumper, a touch more at the sides, and is a full track width wide whole lot is hinged at the rear and supported on gas struts so that it can flex out of the way of curbs etc - all attachments are strong and should allow any downforce to be transmitted directly to the chassis front bumper has flexible lower section that allows slight movement on the floor testing very soon
That looks good, i put somethng similar made from 9mm ply on my mk1 and i'm certain it makes a difference in fast corners and general high speed stability. Make sure you also seal off the front end of the car, except flow through coolers obviously. Makes the coolers far more efficient and reduces drag. I just put loads of aluminium tape around the radiator and oil cooler, then block off every other hole or gap there is. I also put some deflectors just in front of the front wheels on the splitter. Open rolling wheels cause more drag than an equivalent bluff body, so deflecting as much air around them helps for drag. Have a look at new minis and loads of other modern cars, they have them edit, found some pics one more thing, i looked into canards too, i found they cause down force by creating vortices which help to reduce the pressure under the car. Only problem is you can only really tell if they are working with a wind tunnel and whether they are working or not they increase drag significantly, so i didn't bother.
