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Tech for side skirts?


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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

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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.

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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.

 

 

 

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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.

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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.

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  • 2 weeks later...

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

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  • 5 months later...
  • 9 months later...

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.

 

image_zpsf64e6e06.jpg

 

image_zps53229f86.jpg

Edited by heavy85
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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.

 

image_zpsf64e6e06.jpg

 

image_zps53229f86.jpg

Looking quite interesting.  What material did you use?

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