We had a great discussion on wings a few weeks back and there was great input. I was wondering what the forum thought about using the APR RT wing that was made for hatches. Is the profile of the wing too big even if set at close to 0 degree? There aren't many out of the box options for hatches that can throw the air far enough back to not create that unwanted ball of air in the rear.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by snapturn &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">We had a great discussion on wings a few weeks back and there was great input. I was wondering what the forum thought about using the APR RT wing that was made for hatches. Is the profile of the wing too big even if set at close to 0 degree? There aren't many out of the box options for hatches that can throw the air far enough back to not create that unwanted ball of air in the rear.</TD></TR></TABLE>

That "unwanted ball of air" is there regardless of whether a wing is on the car. This goes for hatches as well as coupes, fastbacks, ect. This wake region is the result of air separating from the downslope (aerodynamicists call it an adverse pressure gradient) region at the aft of the car. As far as the APR wing size is concerned, you have a couple of things to consider:

1. How much rear downforce do you need to balance the car in higher speed (80 - 100mph and higher). The front splitter design and implementation will have something to do with your answer.

2. How much drag can you afford so that you find your lap times are minimized. Too much downforce results in larger drag. So while you may be faster in the corners, thanks to more traction resulting from the downforce, but the drag penalty will reduce your ability to accelerate. That's why you need to balance the cars aero for stability and also balance the car in terms of drag and downforce.