mx5autoxer

iTrader: (1)

Why dont we have racing like this on the tv every sunday instead of NASCAR?

sixshooter

iTrader: (12)

We did before SPEED Channel went to hell and became "mainstream."

emilio700

iTrader: (3)

Two iterations of aero on William's car. The "mustache" piece was eventually deleted.


This picture was from the day we set the lap record at Buttonwillow 13CW (still stands). Cooler so we blocked off the rad opening to get a bit more downforce and cut some drag. The dive planes and splitter were made from corrugated plastic and .125 sheet ABS riveted together. The whole splitter and dive plane assembly were held on by 4 quick release pins for easier trailer loading. Splitter/dive plane thing weighed about 5 lbs. That's me driving in this shot. It would bow down on the ends at speed from downforce. Doing about 50mph at the apex of this slow turn.

jacob300zx

What about those spats running from the front to rear wheel?

Gotpsi?

iTrader: (5)

Ive wanted to see that car in person but have had no luck.

Brettauto

The spliter is made from 3/8 ply, I cut voids in it, and then used a PU adhesive to skin the under side with some thin alloy sheet. attaching it to the car, I made some plates that mounted where the oem under tray was, and some thin alloy braces foward and out to the sides. I have used riv nuts and button head bolts to attach all the under body parts.
The under tray is alloy sheet, in three pieces, attached to the full lenght brace, I bent the edges up to meet the chassic rails as the brace sits 1/2'' lower then these, It is pretty level from the spliter to the rear. the diffuser drops away alittle steep at first (10 deg) but then levels out to 7, there is a 1 1/2'' gap between the rear bumper and diffuser to let the heat out .
Used Abs plastic to make the dive plates and the side skirts are plastic garden edging.
I will look at making some quick release devices, to many bolts
My car sits to high to create any real down force, I was looking more at smoothing out the air flow under the car

astroboy

iTrader: (18)

Did you use rubber sheet to cover the control arms (with it attached to the front and rear of the wheel wells)?

sixshooter

iTrader: (12)

Brett, what brake calipers are those in your picture?

thasac

iTrader: (3)

Not to muddle up the thread but might I suggest an alternative to hardware for those concerned.

VHB some threaded bosses/blocks to the top side on your splitter so the bottom side is perfectly flat and scraping on the pavement is a non-issue.

Your splitter will break before the VHB will ever fail.

We use it with some regularity at work and it truly lives up to its claims.

http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3...apes/VHB-Tape/

-Zach

emilio700

iTrader: (3)

William's idea. Helps keep air flowing down side from getting sucked under car. Theory goes if any low pressure is developed (car had a diffuser) underneath, you want to keep it acting upon underside of car and not sucking down the higher pressure air mass from sides of the car. Same principle as skirts. I'm a bit dubious as to the effectiveness of his HD Motorsports solution with PVC garden divider but as he likes to point out, the car set several lap records with about 125whp less than all the other fast F/I Miatas in Cali. I think BW13CW is the only one that still stands now.

bellwilliam

iTrader: (1)

because in NASCAR, driver quality and car potential are a lot closer than the Lotus race.

my bet is that the driver was in a faster class. he somehow qualified at the back due to issues during qualifying. He is clearly 10 seconds per lap faster than some other Lotus.

ZX-Tex

iTrader: (15)

FTW. I am using garden edging on my splitter, same way you are judging from your photo. Very cheap, durable, easy to bend and fasten. A little heavy but not a big deal in the grand scheme of things.

Speaking of which, I found and successfully used a method for making adhesive stick to that stuff (polypropylene IIRC). I may have posted this before but will post again just in case. Normally polypropylene is a terrible surface for adhesives. BUT if it is flame treated with a simple butane torch then it changes the chemistry of the surface layer. Adhesives will stick much better. I am using 3M trim tape to hold a skirt to that piece (low load) and it sticks very well after flame treating. There are writeups on how to do this that can be found via google. The guys that build model airplanes from coroplast (also polyethylene) have to do this as part of the construction procedure. In fact, I also flame treated a piece of coroplast (other side of the aforementioned 3M tape) and it works. You can tell when you are there because it loses a little sheen and water will no longer bead on the surface.

Lowe's Racing Supply aero construction supplies and techniques, gotta love them.

Brettauto

On the rear, attached to the floor at the front of the wheel well, zip tied to the control arm, heated and bent the abs at the rear so it rubbs on the alloy at the rear. Front abs plastic bolted to the crossmember and zip tied out at the wheel end.

modernbeat

iTrader: (1)

Look like RX-7 calipers.

Brettauto

FD rx7 calipers 290mm rotors, work very well, not worth effort now, they are mounted on a simple dog bone mount, machining the out side radius of the caliper is required to fit inside 15'' wheels, and wheels have become an issue how, would really like some 9'' 6UL's but the caliper is to bulky and hits the back of the wheel spokes, would need 1'' spacer, it's just not going to work. I can see a Willwood kit happening soon

curly

iTrader: (25)

You need to tell everyone who wants to try that brake swap.

triple88a

iTrader: (2)

Its not a question of failure or not, The tape is very strong however the problem is how do you pull off your splitter and quickly replace it when time is short such as on a track day? In reality the paint will come off the wood and the splitter will fly down the road.

dgmorr

iTrader: (4)

Where do you guys get your turnbuckle hardware for the front splitter supports?

ZX-Tex

iTrader: (15)

Lowe's Racing Supply. There are many sizes and types of turnbuckles in the hardware section. My whole front splitter is built out of items from the hardware store.

dgmorr

iTrader: (4)

Are you talking about Lowe's/Home Depot type of stores? Or is this an actual car shop? We always joke about Home Depot/Canadian Tire Motorsports up here. I haven't seen any turnbuckles, but I'll give it another go.