So how do you guys feel about running a rear spoiler? Do you guys really notice any difference? I've always been anti- rear spoiler for my Prelude but these days, I'm reconsidering it... does the Prelude really need that added downforce or does it just create some unnecessary drag?
I never experienced a lack of rear grip. ...and any loss in rear grip was actually appreciated. I had an SH so it had the stock rear wing, but I doubt it did much of anything.
Are you losing rear grip around high speed corners?
__________________
Chris @ DeatschWerks (Fuel Nerd)
1991 CRX SiR
1991 Civic Wagon RT4WD
It has stepped out on occasion... sometimes it was my fault; not braking in a straight line... other times it felt like my rear end was loose on the oval... but maybe I was just being paranoid.
I know some of the Honda Challenge guys (Integras, Civics, CRXs) are using rear wings & spoilers. But they are also using front airdams and splitters and often use the rear wing to balance the aero load on the car from the downforce on the front.
__________________ Paul
2009 Mazdaspeed3 | 1995 Miata | 1999 Crystal Blue Base - bought 6/13/02, sold 3/11/09
The stock rear wing is pretty heavy for its size and as I understand does nothing to add downforce to the car, it is simply cosmetic. You would need to look into a functional wing if you really felt like you needed some rear downforce.
it's not just you keith, at gateway it felt loose almost the entire straight for the oval.
But Jay, didn't your 5th gen have the stock rear wing? Keith, I've never noticed my car feeling loose around the oval. I feel more solid there than anywhere else on that track, oddly enough. As for the other parts of Gateway...I chalk that up to "driver error" on my part.
If there happens to be any windtunnel tests between a wingless and winged Prelude, that would probably be the best bet on knowing if the rear wing has any true benefit.
__________________
James--'99 Ficus Green Pearl Type SH, 03' Starlight Silver Metallic Pilot EX-L, 02' silver Mitsubishi Galant ES
The value of life can be measured by how many times your soul has been deeply stirred...--Soichiro Honda www.hacstl.com...RIP 1999--2011
If there happens to be any windtunnel tests between a wingless and winged Prelude, that would probably be the best bet on knowing if the rear wing has any true benefit.
I'd love to know as well...on certain high speed sweepers, my rear end also "feels" very loose (I no longer run a front sway bar), and I've actually thought about putting a spoiler on (if it would actually increase down force in the rear).
the stock wing does nothing though
In the turn into the straight is when i was the loosest (it's a word right). When you come aim turn into the wall just a little is the loostest. and as always, when you tap the brakes to transfer some weight into the turn it gets a little loose.
oh wow, re-reading. i'll edit in the morning when i'm a little bit uhm, coherant.
I recently ran the car with and without a rear wing. I took the stock SH rear spoiler off, and installed an APR V-Spec Type I rear wing on. I went to the big track at Willow Springs. During that weekend, I drove with the wing on and with the middle setting on the rear swaybar on the Saturday morning. The car was well planted at T2 (a long 80 mph sweeper), T8 (full throttle 110+ mph turn), and T9 (approx. 80 mph decreasing radius turn). I actually felt that the car understeered a bit. So I ran with the wing off in the afternoon. The car was a bit loose on corner entry at T2 and T9. No problem at all on T8. I actually liked it that way. On Sunday, I put the wing back on but this time, I had the rear swaybar set at full stiff. The car felt very much like Saturday afternoon, and I actually had the fastest lap time this way.
- Sat. morning w/ wing & middle setting on rsb: 1:39.433
- Sat. afternoon w/o wing & middle setting on rsb: 1:39.064
- Sun. morning w/ wing & full stiff on rsb: 1:38.353
I didn't play around with different wing angles, so I'll have to try that out next time. I'll try to make a front splitter as well.
__________________ 2009 BMW 335i Coupe, Alpine White/Black Dakota, 6MT
2010 Audi S4, Ibis White/Magma Red, 6MT
Did you run entire sessions with these setups or did you just run a couple laps like that?
When we do testing we like to run at least 3-4 laps on the setup to log some times and eliminate driver error. We do look at fastest times, but the average time usually give good info too. For instance we would log something like this....
I ran almost the entire sessions. I couldn't compare average lap times because I ran into traffic every session. What I did was that I made sure I had at least 2-3 clean laps per session for comparison.
__________________ 2009 BMW 335i Coupe, Alpine White/Black Dakota, 6MT
2010 Audi S4, Ibis White/Magma Red, 6MT
Yeah, traffic will screw it up... we have description column in the logbook to make driver notes, we don't run into traffic in our case (autoX) just user error for the most part.
Seems as if the rear spoiler worked out good for you, even the 0.4 second gain on Saturday is nice.
Pretty interesting read, Vincent. Maybe another way to get some comparisons is if you went to an event where you can run mostly solo on the course (Time Attack-type event maybe?).
__________________
James--'99 Ficus Green Pearl Type SH, 03' Starlight Silver Metallic Pilot EX-L, 02' silver Mitsubishi Galant ES
The value of life can be measured by how many times your soul has been deeply stirred...--Soichiro Honda www.hacstl.com...RIP 1999--2011
I had a day at Laguna once (track day, not a race) where in one turn in particular (right hander after the hairpin) the car felt like, well, like I wasn't sure which way it was going to go. It felt a little like a boat. Anyway, it was consistent and I didn't have any trouble, but still wondered why it was happening. Later, photos show that my right-rear was barely on the ground. I thought about how a wing might have helped, but speeds were around 70 mph so I didn't think a wing would have helped much, unless it was big. I'd probably have better luck with suspension adjustments.
This is just speculation, but I don't know that your inside rear being off the ground was the cause of your unstable feeling. Even if that wheel was planted, a majority of the weight is going to be on the outside wheels, so it would have minimal grip anyway.
Or, you could have been exceeding the grip on the outside rear tire, and as it slid, the inside rear gained more weight and grip?
Was the tail shifting or wagging?
__________________
Chris @ DeatschWerks (Fuel Nerd)
1991 CRX SiR
1991 Civic Wagon RT4WD
So how do you guys feel about running a rear spoiler? Do you guys really notice any difference? I've always been anti- rear spoiler for my Prelude but these days, I'm reconsidering it... does the Prelude really need that added downforce or does it just create some unnecessary drag?
Keith
I think Prelude might need extra down force in the rear if suspension is tuned to oversteer. You'll have oversteer in slow corners but neutral in fast ones.
Regarding the effectiveness of OEM wing... I have one observation. My wing was installed but trunk springs not changed, so the lid does not go up when the lock released.
Once I realized I'm driving with trunk unlocked as I noticed dash light is on. So the light was on on stops, but at the speed the wing generates some downforce and the light was off at approx 35 mph and higher. Now, the amount of downforce ... I don't know. But it would be posible to measure one by putting some sort of scales under the trunk lid. Not sure if such small scales are available.
The AutoGuide.com network consists of the largest network of enthusiast-owned enthusiast-operated automotive communities.
AutoGuide.com provides the latest car reviews, auto show coverage, new car prices, and automotive news. The AutoGuide network operates more than 100 automotive forums where our users consult peers for shopping information and advice, and share opinions as a community.
Linear Mode
