With the ram air airbox, what good would it do to remove the lower front plastic air dam for drag racing tonight. Not too worried about the radiator not getting a lot of airflow since it's cool outside (for Florida, anyway).

It looks like it creates a LOT of wind drag. Will removing it effect the aerodynamics of the car enough to even make it worthwhile?

Advice would be appreciated.

 

No you should keep it, the gains from removing will be negated by the car running a lot hotter.

 

... that's sorta' what I was thinking because of the radiator's need for crossflow of air. Thanks for weighing in, John. Coming from you, I know that's pretty much the gospel. It will stay on.

 

Removing it should equal move drag as more air will flow under the car
Bob

 

Mine is gone and my temp. didnt raise 1 deg. at all. And now i can get a jack under the car now without that getting in the way. But i also dont have a AC condensor and no bumper support so my air flow get to my radiator through my fog light holes. And im sure my hood helps me out a lot too with drawing out hot air. But i have no issues, plus the car looks nicer without it hanging down.

 

I left mine on but trimmed it to have the same width as the radiator.

 

ahhhh someone else who is interested in aero

i removed it earlier this year for the track. it was 4lbs. yes i think itll help w/ the air....

better yet......leve it alone and do this..... this is my car and what i do when i head to the track. i think youll be presently surprised


-brandon

 

Well i also cut the bottom of the bumper cover off also. So between that and no fog lights im MAX cool!!... Heres a pick of mine...

 

Dang ... a lot of idea's here and they all seem to make sense. Since I'm now runnig pretty consistent times and MPH, I'll try to remove it for a couple of passes Friday night ... just to see if it makes a difference on my timeslip. Thnaks everyone for weighing in ... anybody else got any ideas?

 

Do tell how much MPH did you see? Any et?

 

i havent done back to back runs w/ it on and off.....

but i have trapped 127.85 an that run i short shifted cause it was the first run of the nite.

i dont doubt that youll see a 2mph gain.....i have my front bumper support off so theres 2 big gulping holes where the fogs used to be....its (in my theroy) acting like a parachute so i took tape and went to town. think about it....all race cars have a solid smooth nose for air to get around the car, not to come in.

also... remove the rubber weather stripping at the where the hood seals to plastic near the windshield. that will allow air that is trapped under the hood to be released and have a continueous flow of air in and out.


-brandon

 

An aerodynamics text book I have states that air dams reduce drag. Less air travels under the car causing less uplift and drag. This probably also makes the car safer at the top end.

I've seen a car crash because it was getting so much uplift that he lost control and rolled it at 170mph+

James

 

Your right on it acting like a parachute/air catcher. Thats one of the reasons i like my hood. In my theory with the hole in front and the back of it, it draws the air out from under my hood. So in theory the air comming in my fog light holes is getting drawn out from my hood and also taking hot air with it. SOOO hopefully i dont have very much drag. But i will be taping off mine a few runs at the track and see if theres a difference.

 

I think if your car is going to do a wheelie at 170+mph, you have more to worry about then a little airdam

 

sounds good... you may not see as much gain as the TAs caue you dont have huge holes like we do, but im sure itll help some....the biggest place i saw that needs to be smooth is the headlights....get the covers for them. and thatll help w/ he aero on the LT maros


-brandon

 

These cars are water cooled, not air cooled!
The less air in the less drag and the faster you will go.

 

Yeah, smoothing out any holes in the front with tape like Demonicbird00 is a good idea. Look at the GTOS, they have a cover to smooth out the airflow and reduce the coefficient of drag. Think smooth

 

haha, your right But to be fair, you can also make a water cooled engine cooler!

 

Today, I removed the lower front air dam and the rubber seal from the back of the hood near the windshield. With nearly the same identical temp/weather and nearly same 60' as I got Wednesday night (1.768 on the Nitto's), I picked up 1/10th and 2 MPH. Didn't break 11's this time out, but, I did get within 3/100's.

Best ET and mph to date.

 

tape the nose now and see what that yields..... youll gain alil more

congrats either way thast awsome!!!!

-brandon