Edens

Lol. Gotta love a slow computer. Oh well.

Handy Man

Very nicely done! Now hook up some shock sensors and tell us how much downforce its generating

wannafbody

iTrader: (1)

How did your times with the front wing compare to previous times without it?

Leafy

iTrader: (1)

I'm surprised you didnt go lower to get the ground effect.

And since the TC wing has been brought up. I believe the TC and cobalt SS wings were high so that the drivers could see. They didnt mount them forward and low like moti because of rules.

It also brings up the question, how close can you get behind another car on track before you notice a loss of front downforce?

Blackbird

Didn't go lower because I was worried about altering the air flow to the rad too much and have a negative effect on the cooling.
The front wing idea has been done a long time ago, it cracks me up that people think this is something that any recent time attack team came up with

I don't think the choice of mounting on the TC had anything to do with rules, I believe the original building high mounting spot had been changed later to something much lower.

The wing is invisible to me from the driver seat, I nearly smashed it on the first time I tried to get out of my parking spot, not remembering for a sec that my car is now about a foot longer in the nose section

I don't have a direct comparison on any track between having the front wing on or not, I wanted to do it over the weekend but forgot... the difference between the complete aero package and not having the aero amounted to 3.2 seconds @ Sonoma this past weekend.

I'm hoping to get to WSIR this weekend and run the Miata Challenge.
My plan was to remove the front wing for that one and back down the rear wing to reduce drag (big willow is a high speed track), but if I make it out there, it's possible that I'll try running a session with the front wing to get a sense of the difference.
I doubt it'll result in any reduction in lap times as I'm already @ WOT like 99% of the time

More pics of the setup in my Sonoma event recap.

Moti

Handy Man

Needs moar POWA!

Blackbird

I'm enjoying the challenge in seeing how far I can push the platform on a bone stock engine.
No, seriously, it's totally stock USDM VVT down to the airbox, all the emissions equipment, header, ECU...
Only thing different about it is that the test pipe / exhaust from the factory downpipe - back, the cat and exhaust were changed to clear the major surgery in the transmission tunnel for the purpose of seat fitment.

When it's time to add power, it'll be done properly

Ian

iTrader: (2)

Moti,

Stumbled on this sweet Lotus and thought you might appreciate it. Very similar approach.

Handy Man

Pikes Peak Mini!

Handy Man

Also, it looks like Racecar Engineering will be doing an article on that Lotus

The Wing Shop - home page

mx5autoxer

iTrader: (1)

Blackbird, did you arbitrarily decide on, guestimate, or calculate the wing width and chord?

Blackbird

For width I went with what made sense for mounting spots on my car, and like I said earlier the width can be added up to whatever I want.
The chord length was a part of the airfoil chosen, keep in mind it a prototype for experimental purposes, you can expect other wings to find their way to the nose of the car

botbullet0

Man that Lotus is sexy. I really like the looks of your wing. It looks clean

Blackbird

Went to big willow on Saturday.
For those who don't know the track, it is all high speed. In my car I only shift twice in a lap, downshifting into 4th for the uphill section and back into 5th for the rest of the lap once the car gets back to the top of 4th gear.

Anyways, the front wing was hurting performance in a high speed track like WSIR, knocking the top end by a good 6-7 MPH.
After the first session I unbolted it and cranked the AOA on the rear wing back down.
2nd session laps were quicker.

Miata Challenge 6.1.13 WSIR | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

Moti

Handy Man

I'll repeat my previous statement:

Keith@FM

iTrader: (1)

Wow, 6-7 mph! That's a draggy little sucker.

Blackbird

Don't forget that the speed difference is from both wings - the front removed the the rear AOA dropped considerably.

Edited to note - also, the more power I'll add the less difference this will make in actual lap time because the car will be able to take advantage of the additional downforce.
At this point it's WOT all the time because of the low power, but if you had to use part throttle anywhere the extra downforce would come into play.

mx5-kiwi

I dont know about real life but in Rfactor and so on losing 6-7 MPH v higher corner speeds usually means much faster lap times.......I think that would translate...?

Circuit racing...but probably not in targa type events...?

and as Blackbird says, very track dependant.

Blackbird

That's the thing at big willow, you're already floored for so much of the lap that the extra downforce doesn't do anything good.
The car makes a good bit of downforce without the front wing too, the splitter and rear wing are still working just fine

ThePass

iTrader: (3)

So that Lotus posted a bit earlier in this thread...

Took first place in Pro ("Unlimited") at the UK time attack.
(btw it's running a twin-charged K-series swap)

All hail front wings!