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Splitter idea


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Having got my lent copy of Competition Car Aerodynamics back, finally, there is a mention of using a diffuser design in the front undertray, will have to study that more to see if its a practical design for the Z.

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No interest? To complete the subject for anyone searching later, I'm going to look at a double diffuser design venting into the wheel well areas. The single central design has a venting problem due to it being in front of the engine, there is no low pressure area there like there is in a wheel well.

 

The pic below illustrates what I have in mind but note I don't want to vent in front of the wheels, just between them and the engine. There are high pressure areas in front of wheels, I'll be looking at some sort of curved air deflector in front of them.

 

34h9rnl.jpg

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No interest? To complete the subject for anyone searching later, I'm going to look at a double diffuser design venting into the wheel well areas. The single central design has a venting problem due to it being in front of the engine, there is no low pressure area there like there is in a wheel well.

Unless you have a flat undertray and a diffuser in the back of the car. It is interesting and I was just using that same CFD image to prove a point elswhere about a week ago, fig 4-14 if memory serves.

 

The pic below illustrates what I have in mind but note I don't want to vent in front of the wheels, just between them and the engine. There are high pressure areas in front of wheels, I'll be looking at some sort of curved air deflector in front of them.

The diffuser would be illegal for most SCCA classes, but certainly worth doing if you don't have those constraints. The high pressure in front of the wheels isn't so bad on a sedan, and really isn't bad on a lowered race car. On an open wheel car I seem to remember they're responsible for a majority of the drag. If you just get the air directed at the wells the low pressure will do the rest. Unless you have your diffuser quite a bit lower than the frame rails, I don't think you'll have too much room to raise it up where it won't be in front of the wheel.

Edited by JMortensen
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If the wheels are in front of the diffuser exit I was thinking that when turning they would interfere with the air flow a lot. A deflector should help isolate any variation in air flow from that, as well as do something to reduce wheel induced drag.

 

The thing I like about having a diffuser instead of a venturi is that it should work fairly constantly during variations in ride height and roll. A venturi on the other hand relies on the presence of the ground to form its shape so any variations there would vary its effect quite significantly.

 

My Z presently has a front venturi setup, some times for no obvious reason the car will understeer at high speed in corners, other times it is rock solid.

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My philosopy is to get the mechanical grip right then, and only then, add aero. Seeing the diffuser concept is in theory less potentially problematical than a venturi I will go that way. If the car still tends towards high speed understeer then it probably is the driver, it usually is :)

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 6 months later...

Emailed McBeath about my splitter/airdam combo idea. Here is the response I got:

 

If you think can't smooth out the underside and integrate a diffuser then probably the lower the airdam is at the front the better. Combining this with your idea of (effectively) extending the lower part of the airdam forwards would offer a horizontal surface onto which the stagnation pressure in front of the car's nose could act' date=' which would probably add a bit more downforce than you'd get from a straight vertical airdam in line with the front. And yes you migth extend the area on which the low pressure beneath would act.

 

However, if you could panel at least under the engine bay so that you could benefit from a splitter as the lowest part of the airdam/splitter assembly I think in reality there'd be the potential for more downforce. I know this isn't what figure 4-11 suggests when viewing the relative magnitudes of the low pressure regions, but the model was relatively simplistic here and I don't think it necessarily reflected what would happen in the real world. A splitter would ordinarily feed into a flat panel downstream, and even into mini diffusers between the wheels and the engine, and this would extend the darker blue region you see directly under the splitter in the lower inage in fig 4-11.

 

 

The sensitivity of a splitter increases the nearer to the ground it is obviously, and if the splitter height is on the same plane as an under-car panel, I'm guessing it wouldn't be so low as to cause you problems in this respect.[/quote']

 

So he thinks my idea has some merit, but the splitter/diffuser to flat bottom to diffuser underside is a better idea for ultimate downforce production. My main beef with the undertray idea is that it seems really hard to do. His comment also seems to indicate that the splitter height can be fairly high off the ground and still function, which makes me wonder what went wrong with John's attempt.

Edited by JMortensen
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  • 2 weeks later...

Emailed Mr. Bunch and got a long response. Here is the meat with regards to the airdam/spoiler combo:

. I had that piece of conveyor belt on the leading edge, but no more because I am convinced that it messed up my air flow under the car. That skirt might help function as a damn, but will screw up the air flow under the splitter. It was the first time I had ever done that too. Also my splitter was too flat, on hard acceleration it was up in the front. A good material for a splitter is black nylon etc that Plastic suppliers stock. It can take lots of rubbing and wears great. That is what I am changing to now. 1/2 inch thick.

 

So it looks like he thinks it's better without.

Edited by JMortensen
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Been emailing some more with Glenn, and I think what would help is a look at the rear of his car. It has a HUGE diffuser on it and apparently a full undertray as well. He was a bit confused about what I was asking, but we finally worked it out. He ended up saying: "Dont put the [airdam] on the splitter, unless you are only interested in an air dam and are willing to forget about the downforce of that tray and the splitter."

 

This makes perfect sense. You need air to the diffuser, so if you're running a diffuser, then an airdam isn't helping. Still leaves me wondering what to do since I can't run an undertray for autox but have no rules to follow for track days...

 

He also said that they changed so much stuff on the car that the driver was having a hard time getting the most out of it. He thought they had another 3 seconds per lap in there but they broke in the first session after only 3 laps and still won outright. Impressive. :eek:

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  • 11 months later...

FYI - I added a splitter. Made of 1/4" plywood as a test piece. Extends 2.5-3" in front of the airdam and back to the front swaybar. Dropped 1/2 second lap time with no ill effects. It was noticeable from the drivers seat in med+ speed sweepers and seemed to help braking as well. The cheapest 1/2 sec you'll ever find and it doubled well to mow the grass. Lets just say the splitter planted to front end so well that I could apply significantly more throttle in some turns. Pushing it too hard I power on oversteered ... cracked a rear stub axle flange. Now need to find a permanent material although it's got a nice natural green patina. :)

 

Cameron

Edited by heavy85
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Did you try the airdam on it?

 

Nope. Only run two races with it and was astounded by my lap times in each so haven't touched it. Not really planning anything else for next year other than to make it out of stiff plastic or something that wont warp when it gets wet.

 

Cameron

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I am currently working to put a splitter on my car. I have sourced a plastics manufacturer locally

I spoke with a miata performance company out of Dallas that made splitters. He gave me a list of parts they used as well as design ideas. I should have something in a few weeks. Money is really tight for me right now, pregnant wife, toddler, and training for a adventure race........ So my time is limited on the z... I will post up pice when I have it done.

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  • 1 year later...

I picked up a used Tegris NASCAR splitter for under $50 shipped. It will require some trimming to make it work on the narrower Z, but it should work great when done. I'm planning on using some rubber impregnated cloth connected along the trailing edge to make an under tray of sorts.

 

My main concerns were cost and ease of replacement, not weight like yours however.

 

IMG_20130405_201920_684_zpsa7253942.jpg

 

IMG_20130405_201846_179_zps3a1478bb.jpg

Edited by LanceVance
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