anyone have ideas about making downforce with a ek coupe? im avoiding the big wings for the ridiculous look on this body but, the car does feel as its not planted enough at high speed sweepers. already on full bushings, 10k rates front and rear, and r compounds.
im feeling to jus swap shells to a hatch

sry for the title. i made this thread on a phone

 

any in car video?

perhaps decadeoldcivic will chime in as he is starting up an aerodynamics company...
He has a thread going on just below....

 

Yeah, video would be good... what constitutes "high speed sweepers" to you? Perceived instability could be anything from worn bushings to bad alignment to sub-optimal setup to driver induced.

FWIW, my EF sedan had shitty aero and never felt skittish in high speed stuff. The long wheelbase made it drive like a Cadillac, IMO. Heck, I've spoken with several folks who prefer the coupe body style over the hatch due to lower drag/better aero.

 

I track a coupe with a ton of aero bits, it helps yes, but the suspension setup helped the most when compared to aero bits that were added. Double adjustable coil overs made the most difference. Suspension setups don't really add down force at high speeds, but the suspension helps manage the grip/tire patch contact which may be what you are after instead of down force.

Down force slows me up to be honest.

Also, I have a hatchback, same year and engine as the coupe, the coupe feels much better at higher speeds. Coupe is less "twitchy". But the hatch has single adjustable coil overs not double.

 

the fast turns are the scary ones, and moderate slip angles seem more like "oh god I'm gonna die", then in, say, a 50 mph corner...
If you feel like your in control, then your going too slow, ha ha

 

I have some vids from last yr but ill make a new gopro vid sunday. By highspeed sweepers i mean like 80+ shallow curves. The car has always been tail happy which isnt comforting on a fwd lol last yr I went up to a 19 mm rear sway which helped alot.. perhaps the mugen wing? Does anyone know if that creates downforce or just reduce drag.

 

"Tail happy" is precisely what you want in a FWD car. Are you at partial throttle when the car feels loose?

 

If 80+ curves are making you insecure i would check everything else before aero... I've got zero aero and am fine around turns 1 & 9 @ SP with speeds just over 100. Sounds like you have your mind set on aero though. How about a good alignment to give you more confidence? Thinking out loud...

 

Ya either part throttle or off completely. Trail braking I guess would be the most unstable as I transfer weight forward.

 

Lol I am a bit set only cause It feels like the car always lifts instead of sticking more to the ground.
I will be getting an alignment soon from my friend at benz. For all i know my rear toe could have shifted. The car has always felt this way even after prior alignments, but since tracking my daily an frs ive become way more picky wit the civic. An frs' s balance and control gives a crazy sense of predictability and confidence even with stock tires

 

Sounds like to you know what you are doing.

 

ur off throttle threw a corner going 80?? thats a nono. ur taking all ur load off ur rear wheels and making it swing around. one thing u never do in a corner at those speeds is lift. if puts the car off balance and u loose all the load on rear wheels which make u stick through the corner. if that speed is too much for the corner try entering slower and throttle through it. it should shoot u out faster .the bigger rear sway bar actually makes ur car more tailhappy. bigger bar the more it will swing out.

 

I notice that its a very common thing in the States to have very high rear spring rates especially higher in the rear to front.I'm not going into a heady debate over this but can only relate to my own setup,I'd go up in front rates so as the rear are less.Say 800 front 700 rear.Or if you find the front satisfactory decrease the rear to 550 600.One of our local tracks has a very fast sweeping corner close to 200 clicks in a Honda and matching spring rates make it a little death defying.

 

hmm good point, i got it aligned and soften the rear sway. i ran it today at open track. tail never came out but once on first pass wasnt serious, ran good suspension wise but still just feels iffy at higher speeds. my co pilot says the car felt great but im a bit mehh i think ill try a splitter

 

Hey greenej, I have the same feeling in my car and just posted some vids on here from my first track day. I'm curious if what you are experiencing looks like my slides? Most of my feedback says that I lifted off throttle mid turn and made the rear end get light so maybe you had the same problem?

 

A splitter to help with the car being loose in high speed corners? Seriously?

 

splitter for front end grip, but I assume he knows this already.
this is a very weird thread to follow. it almost does not make sense.
Slapping a rear adjustable wing would solve his issue, but he does not want it?

Lifting would be an issue in a corner, but I understand he is running a turbo on track. Maybe to much power is also his issue, going in to hot needing to lift.
Needing better brakes might be his true issue, not downforce.

 

yea i know the splitter will reduce lift in the front and add downforce. if only i had a shell that didnt look retarded with a wing lol

 

it could be. but it doesnt slide most of the time, only when the tires are cold. Im just feeling an instability entering the turns could be brakes like robin said

 

Dont drive so hard on cold tires especially in turns, warm them tires up!
Do you have pics of your car that you can share?

 

my profile has the one at auto x but ill put up a vid soon of last weekend

 

maybe you are after mechanical grip and not downforce? For Autox, aero bits dont help much at all but mechanical does.

 

A trunk has better aero than a hatch.
Try more rear camber if u don't want to run a wing.

 

Since the desire here seems to be to achieve all changes through aero...

Consider an annular wing, instead of the more typical wing. Reduced rear lift and reduced drag, a relatively unique look, but no real downforce production. You'd have to go 100% custom though.

Or vortex generators on the roof to reduce rear lift. Or a properly designed spoiler for the same effect. If you already have a spoiler, try adding a gurney flap. Or a full belly pan and a rear diffuser. Lots of available options here that aren't traditional wings.

 

thats my latest run. no losses of control or anything.