Mustang_Owner
Well-Known Member
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- #1
Hi all,
I noticed that at 'high' speeds the rear wheels love to slide around turns, especially in wet conditions. Although I have tried to find very good tires that work in both wet and dry conditions, perhaps adding a rear wing that pushes the car down in the back will keep the rear tires sticking better around 'slight' turns at 60+ MPH. Of course, adding a large wing will create drag and slow my car down at high speeds. Still, I would think that the 'right' size (and angle) wing for my driving style adds safety since the rear of the car won't want to slide as much with more weight pushing down on the rear tires.
I found lots of comments saying the GT350R functional (and stylish) wing increases downforce (and drag), but nobody said by how much (in pounds) versus speed (in MPH). Without any data, I hate spending $$ to take chances on something that might improve (or hurt) performance. I just purchased the below GT350R replica carbon fiber wing.
If anybody knows the actual downforce and drag values for the GT350R wing, please let me know. I suppose after installation, I could test it myself by adding some type of weight sensor on the trunk latch (with the trunk slightly open) and log the weight in lbs as I drive at increasing intervals of 10 MPH faster and provide my own graph. Once I cut the holes on the trunk lid, there's no going back! Even if it slows me down, at least it looks cool in my opinion (although I heard it blocks your rear view mirror somewhat).
I also found this generic table for some adjustable wings as an example (the GT350R wing is not adjustable, so hoping the Mustang engineers got it right and the carbon fiber wing copiers copied it right). From the table below, if I am reading it right, the new GT350R wing might have an Angle of Attack somewhere from 0 to 14 degrees (probably somewhere in the middle). I lose 0 HP at 45 MPH, 2 to 10 HP at 100 MPH, and up to 41 HP at 160 MPH. Still, I gain the traction from the 'extra' weight pushing down on my rear wheels, but is the drag HP loss accounting for this extra weight? At 'high' speeds (150+), could the wing make too much downforce and cause the front end of my car to lift/flip as it launches into the air? Also, checking how much better my car sticks during 100+ MPH turns with the new wing will be quite challenging. Note 20 meters/sec = 45 MPH, 40 meters/sec = 89.5 MPH, 55 meters/sec = 123 MPH. From the two tables, downforce (in lbs) increases at a factor of four for two times the speed.
I noticed that at 'high' speeds the rear wheels love to slide around turns, especially in wet conditions. Although I have tried to find very good tires that work in both wet and dry conditions, perhaps adding a rear wing that pushes the car down in the back will keep the rear tires sticking better around 'slight' turns at 60+ MPH. Of course, adding a large wing will create drag and slow my car down at high speeds. Still, I would think that the 'right' size (and angle) wing for my driving style adds safety since the rear of the car won't want to slide as much with more weight pushing down on the rear tires.
I found lots of comments saying the GT350R functional (and stylish) wing increases downforce (and drag), but nobody said by how much (in pounds) versus speed (in MPH). Without any data, I hate spending $$ to take chances on something that might improve (or hurt) performance. I just purchased the below GT350R replica carbon fiber wing.
If anybody knows the actual downforce and drag values for the GT350R wing, please let me know. I suppose after installation, I could test it myself by adding some type of weight sensor on the trunk latch (with the trunk slightly open) and log the weight in lbs as I drive at increasing intervals of 10 MPH faster and provide my own graph. Once I cut the holes on the trunk lid, there's no going back! Even if it slows me down, at least it looks cool in my opinion (although I heard it blocks your rear view mirror somewhat).
I also found this generic table for some adjustable wings as an example (the GT350R wing is not adjustable, so hoping the Mustang engineers got it right and the carbon fiber wing copiers copied it right). From the table below, if I am reading it right, the new GT350R wing might have an Angle of Attack somewhere from 0 to 14 degrees (probably somewhere in the middle). I lose 0 HP at 45 MPH, 2 to 10 HP at 100 MPH, and up to 41 HP at 160 MPH. Still, I gain the traction from the 'extra' weight pushing down on my rear wheels, but is the drag HP loss accounting for this extra weight? At 'high' speeds (150+), could the wing make too much downforce and cause the front end of my car to lift/flip as it launches into the air? Also, checking how much better my car sticks during 100+ MPH turns with the new wing will be quite challenging. Note 20 meters/sec = 45 MPH, 40 meters/sec = 89.5 MPH, 55 meters/sec = 123 MPH. From the two tables, downforce (in lbs) increases at a factor of four for two times the speed.
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