heavy85 Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 My internet search fu is weak and I cant find good tech on functional side skirts. Looking to hopefully reduce drag and get more front aero. Looking at pics from professional teams they seem all over the map. Some blend out from the front wheel wells, some dont, some are vertical, some are horizontal, some are both, etc. Where's to good tech? After the dogleg rust repair is over the goal is to fab some skirts for next season. Thanks Cameron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 Currently side skirts are used to keep air on the sides of the car from spilling under the car if you're generating a low pressure area. Lots of people think the skirts are there to keep the under car air from spilling out, but always remember that air flows from high pressure to low pressure. If you are generating down force from under the car then side skirts are needed. If not, then you're just adding weight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 The new hotness seems to be side splitters. I guess the idea is that they create a vortex along the side of the car that prevents the air from getting underneath. My thought was garden edging on the pinch weld. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heavy85 Posted December 5, 2012 Author Share Posted December 5, 2012 Side splitters like this? http://www.gmhightechperformance.com/tech/ghtp_1201_aerodynamic_tweaking_racing_drag/photo_21.html Heres a combo that goes out down and out again plus starts inboard behind front wheel and angles out (similar to V8 supercars) http://files.conceptcarz.com/img/Chevrolet/chevy_corvette_c6R_DV_05_NYC_02.jpg Watching FIA GT1 race the other day the winning Ferarris looked old school just straigh down below the doors and didnt even go out to meet the huge flares. Seems there very little detailed tech out there at least that I can find. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 Yes, that's the kind of side splitter I'm talking about. There are some generic CF side splitters appearing in the import tuner market. I think it is an idea with some merit but as usual most of the people are just looking for another carbon fiber doohickey to stick on the car. The second one is trying to pull air out from underneath. The blue car in the wind tunnel had something similar. I think this would work best if you had fender liners in so that there was a smooth path for the air from the engine compartment to the outside. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gnosez Posted December 9, 2012 Share Posted December 9, 2012 I'd look into what the Aussies are putting on their cars for splitters (very wide in the front), wide front fenders with air discharge, and side skirts. Recent Import Tuner has a few pictures. Was at one track a few weeks ago outside Syndey and the 700-1000hp Evos, RX and Honda 2000s had ground effects seemingly from some low budget sci-fic flick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heavy85 Posted December 18, 2012 Author Share Posted December 18, 2012 You talking V8 Supercars? I keep looking at them but in a recent Racecar Engineering magazine they showed details of the cars. The aero is spec (splitter, side skirts, wing) but one of the teams interviewed quoted a low downforce number and basically said the aero package was for high speed stability but didn't contribute much to overall performance. They also dont vent anything out hood hood like most of us do. This make me question copying them if they aren't that effective. NASCAR also uses the splitter and wide front end with really low sides but seem to be able to generate much more downforce doing so but again they have and open engine bay. Still can't find any solid tech more than general statements. Cameron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikelly Posted May 24, 2013 Share Posted May 24, 2013 (edited) I just bought a BUNCH of Kydex to form into some side skirts like those that were found on Roddy Suggs car. Edited May 24, 2013 by Mikelly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heavy85 Posted March 9, 2014 Author Share Posted March 9, 2014 (edited) Version 2.0. The first ones I did were just straight down but they dragged on the trailer, had to remove to jack the car, made it harder to climb underneath, and were just a PITA. Neither lap times nor seat of the pants told me they did anything. So now I've added a flap in front of the rear tire and tied in a horizontal skirt. Also pulled the front fender out at the bottom so air in the wheel well can spill out on top of the skirt. We will see how this works. Edited March 9, 2014 by heavy85 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sideways Posted March 10, 2014 Share Posted March 10, 2014 Version 2.0. The first ones I did were just straight down but they dragged on the trailer, had to remove to jack the car, made it harder to climb underneath, and were just a PITA. Neither lap times nor seat of the pants told me they did anything. So now I've added a flap in front of the rear tire and tied in a horizontal skirt. Also pulled the front fender out at the bottom so air in the wheel well can spill out on top of the skirt. We will see how this works. Looking quite interesting. What material did you use? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
socorob Posted March 12, 2014 Share Posted March 12, 2014 http://news.yahoo.com/nissans-z-car-appeal-continues-151629009.html The Nismo 370 has some nice looking side skirts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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