Aerodynamic Aids - What a drag, What’s your drag? Options

[chris914]

Have you made changes to your 914 body or are you thinking of it?

Here are a number of computer models comparing different body modifications to the 914 and the effects that they have on the cars aerodynamic drag.

http://www.cassidy-online.com/porsche914/aerodynamic_aids

[sean_v8_914]

my wing a ling your wing a ling, won't you play with my wing a ling. those HUGE wings do work at lower speeds but look at how ridiculously large they need to be.

wind resistance is non-linear

someone flip that turtle. the underside of the 914 has some area of improvement under the engine to where the air exits at the rear bumper valance/ air brake. we could benefit from a belly plate diffuser ala Exige or Enzo...not just a flat cover but a channeled diffuser where the channels increase in size as the air exits. sorta like a funnel flowing in reverse. this would reduce relative pressure

the primary confuddlement is in wing vs spoiler. a wing is more effective at lower speeds than a spoiler, however, since wind resistance is non linear, the wing must be HUGE to work well at low speeds. a huge wing becomes a huge drag at big track speeds. the wing MUST be in clean air above the path of air flow that has been modified in direction by the car passing thru it. notice how high the wing is on the slower cars. notice that it is much lower on faster F1 cars. notice the severe angle of attack on those wing monsters as compared to the less extreme angle on the faster F1. notice also the the wing airfoil is inverted so it wants to fly towards the ground.

in summary: no answers are absolute here. the answers are strickly dependent on the use of the car

somebody make us a belly pan

[Air_Cooled_Nut]

... those HUGE wings do work at lower speeds but look at how ridiculously large they need to be...the wing must be HUGE to work well at low speeds. a huge wing becomes a huge drag at big track speeds. the wing MUST be in clean air above the path of air flow that has been modified in direction by the car passing thru it. notice how high the wing is on the slower cars. notice that it is much lower on faster F1 cars. notice the severe angle of attack on those wing monsters as compared to the less extreme angle on the faster F1. notice also the the wing airfoil is inverted so it wants to fly towards the ground.

...

somebody make us a belly pan

Thank you! I'm glad someone else understands this.

I agree w/the belly pan idea. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beer.gif)