rear wing suggestions, comments

[boosted180]

i'm looking for a rear wing for my car. after talking to a few miata guys, and after my last event at sow, i'm convinced that a wing would be a huge help. my rear gets very light and unsettled through turn 1 and the chicane at sow, forcing me to just brush the brakes before entering them. with a wing on, i'm sure i can enter with much mroe speed and a more settled rear end.

for anyone who's running a rear wing, please comment on which wing you have, how much, ease of installation and what differences you were able to observe with it.

if possible, i'd like to have it for autoclub speedway next month. this is a track that definitely can use a wing.

it would be a big plus to be able to remove/ install it easily as i do NOT want to drive around on the street with it on.

[corner3garage]

Ings +1 has released their gt wing and it looks pretty good. Seems to be pretty easy to remove from the pictures.

[Island_370]

I seriously doubt any of the wings that are out right now add any significant downforce. Windtunnel tests are very expensive and the "common" market is after looks not function.

It is really easy to add drag, but to add downforce.....

[theDreamer]

DDMotorsports: Kognition Design Wing Development

Fully engineered and track tested.

[Red370]

^^^^ I love the way that looks.

[Island_370]

Originally Posted by theDreamer

Fully engineered and track tested.

I could not find any "data". Did they post it somewhere? Just saying MONSTER downforce is not testing. lap time reductions, cornering g force improvements, suspension compression....that's data and "tested". Not hating, just curious. That thing is far from "easily removed" and is a big commitment.

[m4a1mustang]

Before jumping at an aerodynamic solution there are probably some things you could do to improve mechanical grip first that might just be more effective on the whole.

[theDreamer]

Originally Posted by Island_370

I could not find any "data". Did they post it somewhere? Just saying MONSTER downforce is not testing. lap time reductions, cornering g force improvements, suspension compression....that's data and "tested". Not hating, just curious. That thing is far from "easily removed" and is a big commitment.

Easy to remove, plus big changes are probably not really going to go together.
Your large wings which produce positive results (downforce, cornering, etc.) need to have better connections to the car to help produce those results.
I agree with mustang, before jumping to a wing, I would consider other upgrades first.

[370Zsteve]

Stock Nismo wing produces downforce. Not sure that this will cure your problem better than some more racing instruction would.

[boosted180]

Originally Posted by m4a1mustang

Before jumping at an aerodynamic solution there are probably some things you could do to improve mechanical grip first that might just be more effective on the whole.

what do you mean by "more effective"? you mean faster lap times? yes, i want that, BUT without adding too many other mods to my car. (currently i have springs, sway bars, and front control arms). i dont go to more than about 2 events per month at most and want to keep it relatively comfortable for a daily driver. i've had 2 240sx's and 3 miata's that are very track-biased in the set-up. my relatively stock and comfortable 370z is a nice change.

i'm not looking for more mechanical grip. (the single best mod for that would be r-compounds, wich would require me to go to a stiffer suspension, to fully utilize.) i dont want to do at this point. the added mechanical grip would worsen fuel starvation (which i'm already having) and other issues.

what i AM looking for is a more settled car on high speed corners (t1 at sow, t8 at big willow, roval at autoclub speedway, etc. etc.). that's why i'm asking for comments from people who are running wings on their z's.

most of the miata guys are seeing about 1.5-2 second reductions in their lap times (depending on track) with wings on. i'm convinced of their effectiveness (esp. in combination with diffusers, splitters and other aero mods). what i need more info on is what's available for the z.

mike's car (with the kognition wing) definitely felt more planted going through the chicane and t1 at sow than my car. he said he was having some issues with his car and didnt know what kind of times he was running.

[boosted180]

sow 12/18/09. best lap 1:31.00. temp 82F. i'm sure i can get into the 1:29.xx with a wing. street tire, stock-ish car in the sub 1:30's wouldnt be too bad.....

[m4a1mustang]

Originally Posted by boosted180

what do you mean by "more effective"? you mean faster lap times? yes, i want that, BUT without adding too many other mods to my car. (currently i have springs, sway bars, and front control arms). i dont see more than about 2 events per month and want to keep it relatively comfortable for a daily driver. i've had 2 240sx's and 3 miata's that are very track-biased in the set-up. my relatively stock and comfortable 370z is a nice change.

i'm not looking for more mechanical grip. (the single best mod for that would be r-compounds, wich would require me to go to a stiffer suspension, to fully utilize.) i dont want to do at this point.

what i AM looking for is a more settled car on high speed corners (t1 at sow, t8 at big willow, roval at autoclub speedway, etc. etc.). that's why i'm asking for comments from people who are running wings on their z's.

most of the miata guys are seeing about 1.5-2 second reductions in their lap times (depending on track) with wings on. i'm convinced of their effectiveness (esp. in combination with diffusers, splitters and other aero mods). what i need more info on is what's available for the z.

mike's car (with the kognition wing) definitely felt more planted going through the chicane and t1 at sow than my car. he said he was having some issues with his car and didnt know what kind of times he was running.

I didn't realize you had already worked the suspension a bit.

What I'm saying is that you do need to be careful with the aerodynamic balance of the car. If you slap a rear wing on and don't do anything with the front, you will help with rear grip but you'll probably end up taking a little away from the front.

Quite frankly, I don't know what kind of numbers these wings produce at speed, so I don't really know how much the balance will be upset. But in theory, you're going to be gaining rear grip and losing some in the front on high speed corners where the wing is generating enough downforce to upset the front/rear balance of the car.

Just some food for thought. If you try the wing and feel like you're running into that issue, then maybe some canards up front or even a Nismo nose would help to put some downforce on the front and help with the balance issue.

It's all theory -- there are no numbers available for us so it's all going to be a trial by fire. Doubtful any of these companies have the resources to put a Z in a wind tunnel for an extended period... who knows if they're even running computer simulations or not.