Top-down Aero Mods
Senior Member
Joined: Apr 2016
Posts: 790
Total Cats: 188
From: Atlanta
This is actually where i am hoping to balance myself.
I do not plan on doing ***** out racing for times and trophies just rocking up and having some pure rock solid reliable fun with my tinkered bombshell.
So top down aero is where I plan on going.
My current plan is splitter, flat floor diffuser and duck tail spoiler.
How terrible that is to drive quickly in I will have to wait and see.
I have my lip and my duck tail the rest is in the cardboard phase and why i ask so many mounting questions.
I do not plan on doing ***** out racing for times and trophies just rocking up and having some pure rock solid reliable fun with my tinkered bombshell.
So top down aero is where I plan on going.
My current plan is splitter, flat floor diffuser and duck tail spoiler.
How terrible that is to drive quickly in I will have to wait and see.
I have my lip and my duck tail the rest is in the cardboard phase and why i ask so many mounting questions.
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Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 8,146
Total Cats: 1,087
From: Lake Forest, CA
This is actually where i am hoping to balance myself.
I do not plan on doing ***** out racing for times and trophies just rocking up and having some pure rock solid reliable fun with my tinkered bombshell.
So top down aero is where I plan on going.
My current plan is splitter, flat floor diffuser and duck tail spoiler.
How terrible that is to drive quickly in I will have to wait and see.
I have my lip and my duck tail the rest is in the cardboard phase and why i ask so many mounting questions.
I do not plan on doing ***** out racing for times and trophies just rocking up and having some pure rock solid reliable fun with my tinkered bombshell.
So top down aero is where I plan on going.
My current plan is splitter, flat floor diffuser and duck tail spoiler.
How terrible that is to drive quickly in I will have to wait and see.
I have my lip and my duck tail the rest is in the cardboard phase and why i ask so many mounting questions.
Honestly for street driving, aero in a miata is more trouble than it is worth. You'll scrape everywhere and have constant headaches from damage due to driveways and speed bumps. And unless you're driving like the king of ********, you're not going to see any benefits from it.
After much experimentation, I ultimately went with no underbody aero, some ducting and 5.5 inch ride height on Xida gs. With stock rear sway and a street alignment. Car is probably leaving tons of time on the table (but I haven't been to the track in years) but more fun without the worrying.
Top down means no wing which means no splitter which raises the question of what you're getting from underbody panels. Either go all in for track aero or don't **** with it at all.
After much experimentation, I ultimately went with no underbody aero, some ducting and 5.5 inch ride height on Xida gs. With stock rear sway and a street alignment. Car is probably leaving tons of time on the table (but I haven't been to the track in years) but more fun without the worrying.
Top down means no wing which means no splitter which raises the question of what you're getting from underbody panels. Either go all in for track aero or don't **** with it at all.
If you're out to have fun, leave the aero alone. if you *must* futz with things, maybe a basic front lip and trunklid spoiler. Beyond that, you're doing things that don't make sense.
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Junior Member
Joined: Oct 2018
Posts: 95
Total Cats: 15
From: Birmingham, Alabama
Think it would make a difference to run with soft top up, side windows down, and rear glass zipped out? While I spend money on other dumb stuff instead of a hard top, I'm wondering if this would be a helpful solution, or not really matter.
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Senior Member
Joined: Apr 2016
Posts: 790
Total Cats: 188
From: Atlanta
Having run soft top with rear window up and down, my opinion is that up is faster. I am rendering this opinion with zero evidence to back up my claim. You do feel less buffetting from the wind with the window down though.
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Newb
Joined: May 2018
Posts: 43
Total Cats: 22
From: Ithaca, NY
Open top with a wing generates 2.5x less downforce compared to OEM hard top. I believe a soft top would be a lot better, but I didn't test that.
Zipping out the rear window is a mistake if you're using a wing. I tested the Treasure Coast "Chop Top" which is basically the same thing as a hardtop without a rear window, and it was only about 10% better than open top.
The results for the tops are here: https://occamsracers.com/results/ope...-and-fastback/
A summary of all the aero testing is here: https://occamsracers.com/results/
Zipping out the rear window is a mistake if you're using a wing. I tested the Treasure Coast "Chop Top" which is basically the same thing as a hardtop without a rear window, and it was only about 10% better than open top.
The results for the tops are here: https://occamsracers.com/results/ope...-and-fastback/
A summary of all the aero testing is here: https://occamsracers.com/results/
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