tinyman392
Senior Member
- First Name
- Marcus
- Joined
- May 21, 2018
- Threads
- 14
- Messages
- 3,265
- Reaction score
- 2,082
- Location
- Illinois
- Vehicle(s)
- '18 Civic Type R (RR)
It'd be the equivalent of distributing 24 lbs where the wing is actually located if you want to get technical. Keep in mind the wing also technically has weight itself too. But that's at 75 MPH. The designers designed the wing for high-speed applications (with the formula I gave above the better a wing works at high speed the better it works at low[er] speed), it's actually designed to produce over 100 lbs at top speed or 40-80 lbs around a track without needing to add 40-80 lbs of weight.OK you seem to know this stuff so If I may ask, Now this might sound (probably will) dumb but, so with your math it is 24lbs at 75 miles an hour. So what's the difference if the wing produces it or the designers just added 24 lbs of weight in the rear instead of a wing? Is it to shed the physical weight so it is lighter at lower speeds? Plus instead of a fixed weight you have a speed variable virtual weight?
Also, under braking the angle of attack also increases (downforce should increase linearly with the sine of the angle). I don't know the actual angle of attack for the wing, but let's assume we have a wing set at 15 degrees and under braking the car shifts 15-30 degrees creating an attack of 30-45 degrees. This would multiply the downforce created by 1.9-2.7x. In theory, that 60 lbs at 120 MPH could be 114-162 lbs under heavy braking. This creates much more stability of the vehicle under heavy braking. This may even play a role for a 60-0 brake test where the wing itself (not including the rest of the aero) might produce between 29.5-41.5 lbs. You know how people with really front heavy cars like to put sand bags in their trunk to keep stable in the winter? There's your 50 lb bag of sand. Granted as you slow the weight reduces substantially (20.5-29 lbs by the time you're at 50 MPH). Going to stop at full speed would have 233-331 lbs of force with this setup. Note this is assuming the 15 degrees with a nose dive of 15-30 degrees. I don't know the actual numbers for the CTR.
Basically, it allows variable weight over the rear of the car depending on speed, gas, and brake inputs. The front splitter does something similar as well in theory, variable weight over the front of the car under similar circumstances.
It is definitely not to shed physical weight so it's lighter at lower speeds, the wing does have its own weight and at low speeds you'd be better off without the wing or weight of the wing.
Edit: so remember when I said you probably wouldn't notice it in everyday driving. I kind of lied, you'd probably notice it at least a little under heavy, emergency braking.
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