I'm responding to someone two posts above mine that claimed the weight of spoiler will reduce MPG. Their comment was based on weight and not drag.

 

currently spoilerless, i do have stock spoiler sitting in the garage, which i think make the car look better, but thats just me, you shouldn't ask people what to get or not to, it's your car.

 

Spoiler-less looks better and is cheaper!

 

Im not asking people what i should do lol, i know what i want to do, but i want to see some other peoples opinions and other things they've done.
We dont have a thread like this so i wanted to make it a little interesting. Should have made a poll.

 

The only thing i wish mine had was either the small spoiler or the standard OEM, but i will worry about other things before i put money into cosmetics.

 

I was spoiler less............

Now I have one.

You decide.

 

I wish I could find the OEM lip spoiler for a decent price.

 

i went thru the SPOILER vs. NO SPOILER debate back and forth when i ordered my car back in March 2005... originally ordered it with, then had the dealer take it off the build order, then had them add it back just in time before the car was built...

honestly, this car looks sexy and sporty- both with or without a spoiler. however, the reason i ultimately decided to go with a spoiler is very simple... it's a friggen sports car for cryin' out loud. and, sports cars usually have spoilers as a nice finishing touch...

either way your 8 will look nice, imo...

 

seems like i want the same as u.

its either a lip spoiler, or none at all.

to me... a lip spoiler adds a subtle touch, and its theoritical application is to reduce turbulant air as it leaves the rear end. also a +

i think a spoiler in ANY form on the rx-8 may only be handy in determining parallel parking distance. i'm sure we can all agree on that...

 

Spoiler.

But it has to be simple like the OEM, mazdaspeed, or some sort of small lip spoiler to add that lil bit of aggressiveness. No park benches or whale fins. Please god don't do that.

To me, the Rx8 looks naked without something there.

 

I like the MazdaSpeed spoiler, been thinking about finding one for my girl. For now I'm just sporting the standard aero package one.

 

I like my RX8 like I like my girl - naked.

 

There is a lot of mis-information in this thread. First off spoilers and wings are NOT the same thing. A correctly designed automotive spoiler should not generate any lift or downforce. An automotive wing should generate downforce, and due to that will also generate induced drag.

Theoretically, the spoiler should reduce skin drag due to turbulence, i.e. the flow over the entire car should be smoother (laminar). This is just one piece of the overall drag picture though. This reduction could easily be outweighed by the effects of additional form drag (more surface for air particles to collide with) or interference drag between the spoiler and the rest of the car's surface. Whether Mazda (or any other car company) actually spends the time/money to design and analyze a correctly shaped spoiler so that it actually reduces overall drag, who knows. My guess is no, like I said the effects at even highway speeds would be minimal and probably not justify the costs.

Now the Mazdaspeed spoiler might actually be functional. I couldn't find much information on it, but looking at pics it appears it is fully adjustable, which by that virute alone sould allow it to generate downforce (and induced drag). Give any surface enough pitch down relative to the air flow and it will generate downforce (and induced drag). Since this is the case, the Mazdaspeed spolier isn't a spoiler at all, its an automotive wing. However even the wing will be useless at lower speeds, the only benefit of the wing will be high speed cornering (think formula one cars).

Those ridiculous park-bench after-market wings, those might also generate some downforce. But I doubt they ever went through any real aerodynamic design/analysis and will probably give you a huge increase in drag (not to mention looking stupid).

Like others have said, in the end it comes down to looks and personal preference. These comments are based off of what Ive learned in several aerodynamics courses. Btw I have the OEM spoiler on my car, I think it looks great

 

i say go for whatever you think looks good to you.

 

Theres an OEM lip spoiler?
Are you referring to the standard spoiler on Rx-8s because i didnt know they considered it a lip, if you are.

 

ok... if it comes down to HAVE to having a "spoiler" on the 8 (and a lip spoiler doesn't count in this case...)

then i would have to say it would have to be the spoiler from the R3's.

IIRC, there was a slight angle of attack, a raised section in the rear of the spoiler, to distinguish it from a common type spoiler.

SOMEONE SHOW OFF THEIR DETAILED R3 SPOILER!!

i'm sure once we see the difference, it should end the debate...

 

as far as i know... the '09 none R3 models comes with them. could still be an option, who knows?

its just a piece of thin strip over the trunk...

 

lip spoiler:


ings+ lip spoiler:

mazdaspeed:

GT wing (park bench)

 

No spoiler, don't want one.

 

If you are refering to the lip spoiler and its functionality, wouldn't it only effect the airflow as the flow exits the tail? Definitely not the flow over the entire car (maybe i missunderstood). Seems like if it were functional in the way of reducing drag it would be reducing induced drag and turbulence off the tail.

 

... would you have it any other way??? I dont think this comment can apply to an RX8 discussion, lol would you want you're girl to have clothes on???

 

Induced drag only occurs if lift or downforce are being generated.

Im not 100% on this because my aerodynamics courses were all concerned with aircraft (aircraft spoilers function totally different from automotive spoilers). One explanation Ive seen says automotive spoilers reduce turbulent flow off the rear edge of the roof by allowing the flow to remain attached to the vehicle longer instead of becoming detached after the steep drop off at the rear edge of the roof. The spoiler may actually increase turblent flow off the tail, but since this turbulence is downstream of the car, there is no surface for it interract with to cause drag.

I made a crappy sketch to help explain, please excuse my poor drawing skills lol. The 'squirrelies' represent the turbulent flow areas. Without the spoiler, there is more turbulence off the rear edge of the roofline which causes increased friction drag along the rear surfaces of the car. The spoiler allows the flow to remain smoother over the rear surface of the car reducing the skin friction.



To answer your question, both the lip and bigger spoiler should do the same thing (to varying degrees) if they were designed correctly.

 

I"d take the one off my R3 but I'm too cheap to have the resulting rear deck holes patched and repainted. Spoilers, wings etc are useless on the street, break up the otherwise clean lines of the car, and give the car the cheesy teenager wannabe fast guy look. Not my cuppa', exactly.

 

An R3 with a lip spoiler would be legit.