kay_animation

Well, I know that some body stuff is pointless and some body kits can actually hurt the cars performance. But I always see the fastest cars or cars owned by people who look like they know what they were doing with every aspect of the car, who have front lips mounted on the bumper. I guess, my question is:

WHAT DOES A FRONT LIP DO PERFORMANCE WISE?

I'm guessing that because so many people are jumping into these, there must be some reason. I am not an outsider to the lip either. I owned an ej1 and threw a ctr style front lip on it and yes it kicked *** appearance wise, but I always wondered, what it actually does to improve the car itself. I my eyes, it seems like the lip not only adds weight to your front bumper, but makes your front bumper a lot larger therefore more wind resistance while your driving. If I'm making sense and not forgetting something, that means it does two negatives for you car and no help. Am I totally clueless?

Well, right now, I own a 96 civic dx hatch and have the following lip options:

A: 96-98 JDM "CTR" Style Front Bumper Lip
B: 96-98 Civic "Mugen" Style Front Bumper Lip
C: 96-98 Civic "Type R" Style Front Bumper Lip

(go here if you want to see pictures of them: http://www.jdmshit.com/parts/exterior/index.html)

It my eyes, C seems to be the worse performing lip, B is the middle worse, and A is the best out of the three lips as far as aerodynamics. But judging by the way the oem front bumper is, it seems like no front lip would be the best performance mod for aerodynamics. Does this sound off to anybody?

Well, please help me see the light

FuZioNxMaxBoost

Its all for looks.

Won't really help much on downforce unless you're going over 100mph... just my opinion.

SpoonFedHatch

front lips dont do anything on OUR cars...

they are soley for style, cosmetics....pick flavor that suits you

t0p_sh0tta

Don't they help divert air around the car, so it doesn't get trapped underneath? Maybe I'm thinking about a diffuser.

jolt-tsp

They're suposed to add downforce... and if you have a cf one that weighs like 2 lbs, it probably does help a little, but I don't know if anyone's ever noticed it.

Doctor CorteZ

a lip designed properly will function very well , there is a huge improvement in handling dynamics even with some simple canards and a front airdam , add a splitter and its even better.

1 point 6

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by jolt-tsp &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">They're suposed to add downforce... and if you have a cf one that weighs like 2 lbs, it probably does help a little, but I don't know if anyone's ever noticed it.</TD></TR></TABLE>

pfft, i got like 6hp on the dyno, but thats ONLY cause its JDM.

SpoonFedHatch

[sarcasm] my lip improved my track lap time by 10 seconds, and my 1/4 by 2 seconds![/sarcasm]

Hatchy-Ownzjo0

gayest thread evar.. lips don't do chit.. they are stricly for looks. are you going to talk about how pointless they are now? and how it's a waste of money cuz it doesnt improve track times?

they don't hurt or add to performance, so you might as well put a lip on and make your car look nicer.

rodrez.

It can have an impact on your cars handling, but 99% of the time, it's for looks. That's why I bought mine, looks better with a lip in my opinion.

ki3t

IMO, I don't think they really do anything but look good. Like everyone else said, 99% of lips are for looks.

R6Elmo

On some cars it matters. it could relate to downforce or brake ducting. My rx7 had a front lip with purposely built brake cuts that had channels to the front of the wheel.

On some past cars i had, i would put a front splitter that would really help out my car for high speed stability. (front end was twichy at highe speed).

It really depends. but i would say for the EG, it won't help much.

hondandy

NASCAR cars have the super low lip so less air goes under it. It doesn't make downforce(thats a front splitter)it makes less up force. Like the way an airplane wing makes lift by making air travel farther over the top than under the wing. Why do you think sports cars are lower than minivans?

Apex i ITR

even if it does anything most time its bought for looks.

I just sold one to a member on this board.

I have another one on the way because my car is turning into somewhat of a shop car and with the nopi show around the corner a little emphasis is being placed on the looks.

Doctor CorteZ

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by hondandy &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">NASCAR cars have the super low lip so less air goes under it. It doesn't make downforce(thats a front splitter)it makes less up force. </TD></TR></TABLE>

um , yeah "upforce"

airdams create downforce by forcing more air over the top of the car , they also help to create a low pressure zone under the car creating a vacuum to aid in handling even more.

Carlo

On yours and most of the cars on this board its just for looks.

Quik Chris

When you reduce the amount of air that travels under the car, you're reducing lift, not ADDing downforce. But like spoilers on today's car, it's more of a looks thing than a real adding of aerodynamics. But looks sell cars.

Henry HA

lips dont do anything but front splitters do

Newman

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by rodrez &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">It can have an impact on your cars handling, but 99% of the time, it's for looks. That's why I bought mine, looks better with a lip in my opinion.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Exactly. A "true" front bumper lip can aide in downforce when racing... but with any "aftermarket" lip you get out there, by the time you reach the speeds you need for the lip to really help you out, the wind resistance would probably just tear the lip right off of your bumper .

2000DX

I'll remember this for Lips 101.

Tad

how about lets add more to this.

do they really help ABOVE 100mph.
and yes.. going that fast is illegal and dangerous, thats why having more downforce would be nice.

some of us have cars capable over over 150 so aerodynamics are definetely something to at least think about

Apex i ITR

I wouldn't know. After 120 I have no clue how fast I'm going. And after 120 I am not checking to see how the handling characteristics of the car are.

kay_animation

Sorry, I was in class all day. Great to see so many replies.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Carlo &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">On yours and most of the cars on this board its just for looks.</TD></TR></TABLE>

So I guess this guy said it best then...

The fastest I have ever gone in the hatch so far was like 110-120 or something like that, and it was only one time. Other than that, I have never even gone over 100mph. So high speed control is like not needed by me at this time. I have to focus on a new engine right now to make sure my car can even go fast enough to use a lip

Yea, I was really wondering if they actually helped at all. From what I'm hearing, they can or do help but the speed needed for them to help probably won't happen in a civic anyway So, with all that being said, and with the understanding that they do look pretty good, ANYBODY WANT TO SELL ME A LIP

Thanks all

kommon_sense

I have a CTR style front lip made my Wings West. I bought it just for looks, but to my surprise it actually turned out to be functional. I noticed that my car is a little more stable at highway speeds. The front lip helps to channel air under the car. It isn't night and day or anything, but it is noticeable at speed.

bartek_b

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by t0p_sh0tta &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Don't they help divert air around the car, so it doesn't get trapped underneath? Maybe I'm thinking about a diffuser.</TD></TR></TABLE>

they don't do notting to our cars, the car would need to be going at a massive speed for that to even help a bit, but what honda goes fast j/p