Spoiler on a FWD car. Pointless?

[Khare]

Right, going to open a great big can of worms here. There's popcorn to your left and a glass of JD & coke on the right, chilled.

Are spoilers a pointless addon that barry and his boys like putting on their FWD Astra's or are they actually beneficial so long as they're placed in the correct position?

I ask because (Yes Glen, some Mk3's do oversteer  ) on several occasions my Mk3's rear has stepped out of line, both in wet and dry (but more often in the wet, obviously). It got me thinking about spoilers on FWD cars. Some may say they're a pointless addition on a FWD car and it's done purely for cosmetic purposes, and to a certain extent I agree. But if a wing was to be put in the correct position at the back of the car, sure it'll add downforce/reduce lift. Afterall the FWD BTCC cars ave rear spoilers and they're not just to look pretty.

Discuss.

PS: Obviously at 30mph the wing will do nothing, I'm talking about at track days/very spirited driving.

[Wayne]

Well my view is that has to help, I ran mine without the factory spoiler for a week once and you could notice the difference

[Khare]

Indeed. Front searching the internet I've found two standout cases. One was of an integra being unstable under heavy braking and another was of a 1.1 106 that used to be tail happy and since having a spoiler fitted it's not oversteered since.

[trog_nfs]

Look at Audi with the early mk1 TTs.

They were completely unstable, and part of the recall to remedy this was to add a rear spoiler. Its got to have some sort of an effect.

That said there's going to be a difference between a OEM part thats had 1000s of hours spent on airflow and some crazy fast and furious setup.

[topher]

at the sort of speeds the aerodynamics come in to play, i wouldn't think it matters if its front, rear or 4 wheel drive.

[Khare]

60mph that aerodynamics start to take effect isn't it?

[topher]

couldn't say, suppose its different for every car.

cant get my head around why you think it being fwd or rwd makes a difference?

[Khare]

Because the general thought is it's used on rwd cars to help push the rear down for more traction.

[topher]

so by that theory as long as you're not creating so much downforce* at the rear as to lift the front driven wheels a spoiler will help the overall stability. a question of fine balance and intricate design though and not just some bolt on tat from halfords



*not the correct terminology i know, its late gimme a break

[Wayne]

so by that theory as long as you're not creating so much downforce at the rear as to lift the front driven wheels a spoiler will help the overall stability. a question of fine balance and intricate design though and not just some bolt on tat from halfords

We seem to have a few around here that think big spoilers look  to me it looks like you have an ironing board stuck to the boot