I was looking at replacing my front lip on the bottom edge of my bumper and came across this product.

http://www.roadracegear.com/products.html

Do any of you guys have use one of these? (or simular?) What kinds of benefits might it provide? Is it worth the money on an IT car?

What about trailering. Can you get it on and off the trailer without banging it up? (can I install it with quick disconnect fittings?)

Anyways, I'm bored at work and need stimulation...

 

I know Corey Jacobs has one, also Scott Giles has a splitter all though I do not know the brand, he has to crank up his coilovers to get his car on his trailer with the splitter.

 

Actually Scott has an air dam and yes they do work. Scott found that in higher speed corners (+90MPH) the car was lifting up and not turning in real well. The air dam keeps air from going under the car and holds it to the track better.

 

Any objective gains, such as in times?

 

If you can take a corner faster then yes there will be improvements in time. Do I know what those improvements would be in percents? No.

 

Well, actually Blake Merideth dropped 5 seconds a lap at CMP after putting on one of John's splitters. Now in all fairness, Blake learned the track a little more between Saturday and Sunday but what is not questionable is that his oil temps dropped to 220 degrees (a 40 degree drop IIRC and I think I do). Now that should be the empiracle part - I am sure it sped him a tad too but not the full 5 second

Believe me, if I had the cash right now, I'd have a RRG Splitter on the CRX like yesterday. Have to shake out some more numbers to see if I can do it at all this season.

 

Thanks guys. I'd like to talk to Corey and Scott about the trailering obsticles.

Looks to me to be a decent idea for reducing lap times and increasing stability. I'll look into the "removability" of the unit - I'd need it to be removable for the clearance on my beavertail trailer...

 

There's nothing wrong those products. In fact, they look pretty darn good... if you have the means ($). Shoot man, I'll make you one of my home-made specials if you want. The one I made for my old Civic turned out pretty good for a first effort. (Email for pics) I'm one of those guys who'll always try the DIY route first if I think it'll be worth while.

 

RRG.com ..

John is a cool guy with cool products who supports the Honda Challenge.

EDIT: removed what phat-s already said and I didn't read before posting.


[Modified by SPiFF, 11:19 PM 5/8/2002]

 

Front splitters are EXTREMELY effective. One of the most effective aerodynamic mod you can do to your car.

 

Are any Integra splitters in development?

 

Mugen front lip

 

are the ARC splitters effective besides feeling curbs?

 

My experience (in open wheel) is yes they are beneficial. The faster the speed through a turn, the more beneficial. I remember in one race, I checked a lapped car in front of me and lost my front nose. The car understeered like a pig the rest of the race. Went from first place to fifth place. 2.5" to 3" is the optimal height for negative air pressure under the chassis (that is with the underneath skinned). For closed wheel, higher is ok, but you just don't get as much "suction". Spoiler: guess for closed wheel it is just to keep air from getting under the car (more drag), pushing the air out of the way.

 

Splitters prevent air from spilling down over the bottom edge of the air dam and joining the air already going under the car. Some front down pressure is gained as this air pushes on the splitter on its way to the sides of the car. Just look at some pro road race cars...they ALL have them, including our beloved Realtime gang. My guess is that a small splitter would only be effective in really fast corners, like VIR's uphill esses. I'm currently fabricating one. It's pretty challenging because of the undercut section in the center of the ITR chin.

 

yes.... I have thought about that... but could that section be left open? or used to get air for brake ducting?

Will

 

talk to corey first, last i heard he was very unhappy with that product.

 

I was about to say the same. H ewill wake up sooner, or well prob later and see this post. He also had problems getting the car on the trailer. ( yes CJ is a trailer queen)

 

HEY! There's nothing wrong with being a trailer queen. I *like* being a trailer queen. Heated leather captains chairs 0wn!

 

LOL... have you seen Coreys tow veh? No leather in that bad boy.

Yack 0wnz !!

 

This may or may not be helpful, and the following information is borrowed from another source.



A splitter generates downforce on the front of a car by creating pressure differentials. Actually a splitter produces a "downward force". It is not technically termed "downforce" unless the downward force is large enough to overcome the "upward" force caused by lift. But that is really just semantics.

This picture shows that as the incoming air reaches the front of the vehicle it must come to a stop before it turns to move either up and over, down and under, or around the vehicle. The area where the oncoming air flow comes to a stop is termed the "stagnation point". Since the velocity has gone down, the pressure has gone up (the "stagnation pressure). Thus the front of the moving vehicle is an area of relatively high pressure. Most people are well aware of this already.

One of the realities of pressure is that it acts in all directions. Thus the relatively high stagnation pressure at the front of a moving vehicle pushes back on the vehicle (creating drag). Now if we stick a splitter out on the bottom of the spoiler, then the stagnation pressure will also push down on the top of the splitter. But what is the pressure on the underside of the splitter? If it is the same as the pressure on top then there will be no force on the splitter. So let's examine the pressure underneath the splitter.

Since the splitter is close to the tarmac, it creates a restriction to air flowing underneath it (a mini-Venturi if you will). Just as water in a river speeds up when the river narrows, the air that is piled up in front of the spoiler must speed up if it wants to squeeze underneath the splitter. When an airstream speeds up, its pressure goes down. Thus the region between the splitter and the pavement is an area of low pressure. To recap; high pressure exists on top of the splitter, and low pressure exists beneath it. This adds up to a downward force on the splitter. And this downward force is directly proportional to the surface area of the splitter. So, up to a point, the bigger the splitter is, the more downforce it can create.


Some racecar designers have maximized the use of a front spoiler venturi.



If we examine the spoiler on the 1996 DTM/ITC Mercedes Benz shown above we notice that it does not have any kind of splitter. In fact, it has the opposite of a splitter. The lower portion of the spoiler curves back in towards the car, instead of jutting out into the stagnation region. The designers were trying to encourage the high pressure air in front of the spoiler to flow underneath the car. This way they could maximize the venturi effect underneath the front of the vehicle. In essence, the front spoiler region of the car forms a "mini ground-effect tunnel". In the "throat" region of the venturi, the air flow speeds up and hence the local pressure goes down. This creates downforce. The longer the throat region is, the more downforce that can be created. A simplified schematic of the air flow over and under a racecar with a spoiler venturi is shown below.



There are many possible permutations of the splitter/venturi spoiler idea. Some racecars use either just a splitter or just a venturi. Other designers have attempted to combine the two devices in an effort to maximize front downforce under modern racing regulations (which usually require a flat under-body from the front axle-line back).





[Modified by johng, 8:47 AM 5/9/2002]

 

That looks familiar. I'll take a guess that it's from Gustave's E30 M3 page.

Warren

 

stock VX splitter does just fine.

 

You got it. Good stuff

 

I have the full stage 3 splitter on my car from RRG... The air damn hasn't given me any problems, but the add on splitter part has.. RRG and I talked about it and is going to change a couple things to the design and send me another one.. Free of charge, so great customer service

Does it work, its hard for me to tell, because I was on CMP for the first time when I used it.. I will say this, my car normally understeers, but in the Kink at CMP, I could oversteer with ease (115+mph) was that due to the extra downforce on the front at high speed, probably so..

Getting on a trailer is a bitch, I find taking the splitter part off and putting it on the trailer is the best thing to do.. Takes about 30mins to put it on/or off...

One other thing I noticed, I have soft springs (400#) on the front of the car, and had more than one report of the splitter actually hitting the ground under hi-speed braking.. So heavy springs recomened..