240hoke Posted May 12, 2006 Share Posted May 12, 2006 Well after all that talk about front spliters and air dams and what not, I decided to go ahead and start the splitter I had been planning. Its pretty simple but looks like it should be effective. Anyway this is what I have done so far, I think the pictures should speak for themselves, still have a little trimming to do as well as finishing up all the fasteners, its just mocked up now. Going along with the splitter I am going to add full aluminum inner fenders and some brake ducts. I will post more pictures tomarrow when its finished and the car is back on the ground. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehelix112 Posted May 12, 2006 Share Posted May 12, 2006 Very nice. From what you have done, do you think it would be prohibitively difficult to continue backwards and end up with a completely smooth underbody surface? Its been a while since I stuck my head under my zed, is there anything major in the way that would stop you? Oh and on another note, I notice the way the splitter tapers inwards. As the idea (from the previous air-dam discussion) as I understand it is to get the air flowing under the car as quickly as possible, I wonder if there would be any benefit adding some sides to the splitter to stop air spilling out. Or am I on the wrong track here? Do you want it to spill out into the wheel well? Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaysZ Posted May 12, 2006 Share Posted May 12, 2006 lookin good man Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DemonZ Posted May 12, 2006 Share Posted May 12, 2006 Nice job. Um, on the totally smooth bottom idea, wouldn't that make the z one big ol wing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PUSHER Posted May 12, 2006 Share Posted May 12, 2006 What did you cut it with? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjhines Posted May 12, 2006 Share Posted May 12, 2006 Nice work.... I tend to cut aluminum with an agressive wood blade in a jig saw.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thehelix112 Posted May 12, 2006 Share Posted May 12, 2006 DemonZ, As far as my small brain will let me see, it won't make the Z any more of a wing shape than it already is. And by letting the air flow undernear the car faster, you reduce the pressure under the car, and thereby reduce the lift (wing) effects. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EMWHYR0HEN Posted May 12, 2006 Share Posted May 12, 2006 Looks great! how far back does the splitter go? I dont get it though, if air passed under the car FASTER than the top, the pressure under would be LARGER than the top. Right? and Pressure always wants to move from HIGH to LOW. So the fast, high pressure air under the car wants to move UP where the pressure is LOWER. wouldnt this make the car have lift? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DemonZ Posted May 12, 2006 Share Posted May 12, 2006 thehelix112, I see your point about reducing pressure underneath the car. I just am not certain that the net effect would be less lift. Visions of air born Mercedes CLR's keep rolling around in my noggin. I also seem to recall the bellypan of some Ferrari F50?(which didn't have aero problems) and it wasn't totally flat. It had venturis channeled down the sides and a diffuser at the rear. It all looked sculpted and rather complex. EMWHYR0HEN, Yeah it seems counter intuitive, look up Bernoulli effect. I guess our test pilot will let us know soon enough. Cheers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paz8 Posted May 12, 2006 Share Posted May 12, 2006 Looks great, just a few thoughts, the air moving through the radiator needs to exit under the car somewhere, guess you could put in a bunch of louvered panning but you would need alot of area. As far as the lift issue goes it seems to me that it's not an issue unless your driving at very high speeds. just my opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt1 Posted May 12, 2006 Share Posted May 12, 2006 Faster moving air has less pressure than slower moving air, as per Bernoulli's Law. So by making the under side smoother, the air flows with less turbulence, therefore faster, with less pressure. Only a wind tunnel would tell if any downforce was generated, but there is almost certainly less lift on the front of the car, and maybe some downforce just depending on the pressures involved. Austin, that looks great. Post up some more pics as it comes along. jt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JaysZ Posted May 12, 2006 Share Posted May 12, 2006 since the lip of the front spoiler extends from the bumper wouldn't the majority of outside air push down on the lip area thus producing the downforce? i guess how much air goes over and under depends on how low it is to the ground, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted May 12, 2006 Share Posted May 12, 2006 The idea is that the air piles up on top of the lip and yes, that gives you downforce. How low it is to the ground, how far it sticks out, the angle of the splitter, and the shape of the airdam behind it all play into how much downforce you get. John Coffey posted an article about how splitters work maybe a year ago and it had really clear info. I searched quickly and couldn't find it. Maybe if he sees this and remembers he can post it up again. Austin, that thing looks really nice! I have to admit though, that the thing I don't understand is where the splitter needs to end. I've seen some WC cars with adjustable splitters, but I don't know where the splitter ends and what kind of belly pan is on there. It seems like they'd have to be 2 separate pieces in order to adjust, or maybe have a hinge somewhere in there. I'd be really curious to find that out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruxGNZ Posted May 12, 2006 Share Posted May 12, 2006 Scott (ZR8ED) made a belly pan a long time ago (similar to Austin's) and has had no issues with it. He posted pictures here a few years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mario_82_ZXT Posted May 12, 2006 Share Posted May 12, 2006 How far does it extend? If you seal up the front, don't you need some vents to vent the pressure at the firewall? Tony D posted some pics of Z hoods bowing up due to pressure. Looks sweet though! Mario Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted May 12, 2006 Share Posted May 12, 2006 All things aero: http://www.mulsannescorner.com/ Splitter are flow control devices and are more appropriately called contractors. They are basically the air inlet for air flow underneath an enclosed wheel vehicle. Splitters work in conjunction with diffusers to generate downforce. Typically these diffusers are on the rear sides of the splitter and direct air to the low pressure area in the front wheel wells. Flat plate splitters (as required by some rule making bodies) can also generate downforce by controlling and accelerating air underneath the vehicle creating a low pressure area. But, this is very tricky as I learned when building one for my racing 240Z. The air acceleration must be significant and constant or the splitter will not work as deisgned causing large amounts of lift. Changes in vehicle ride height and pitch must be tightly controlled and the gap between the splitter and the ground remian as constant as possible. A very general rule of thumb is that the air gap should be 3 to 5% of the total vehicle height. There should not be any obstructions or interruptions in the flat plate for its entire length (it should be as long as possbile or at least as long as it is wide) and there should be no underbody or suspension parts lower then the plate along the center mass of the vehicle. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nope Posted May 12, 2006 Share Posted May 12, 2006 if youre real slick you would mount your splitter to your suspension (outboard). constant ground clearance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OlderThanMe Posted May 12, 2006 Share Posted May 12, 2006 I have been thinking that if you are going to all this effort to seal the bottom of the car why not continue the same piece out into the front fenders only except for where the tires and suspension pieces are. Yesterday I stopped and talked to this guy with a 76' 280 at an eckerds pharmacy and he had the little splash guard but it was pretty rusty. In fact his whole car was rusty and beat up but he had some nice pieces. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cygnusx1 Posted May 12, 2006 Share Posted May 12, 2006 Actually, If you don't provide an exit for the air hitting the grill, the air won't even enter. It will compress against the radiator and stagnate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1 tuff z Posted May 14, 2006 Share Posted May 14, 2006 looks great, i have been thinking of the same thing for my z. unfortunately it's not made it past the idea stage... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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