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Which stock spoiler actually lowers drag coefficient?

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Old 09-28-2005, 08:59 PM
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Which stock spoiler actually lowers drag coefficient?

I was reading Jack Yamaguchi's book about the RX-8 and he says that the stock spoiler actually lowers the drag coefficient from 0.31 to 0.30 and also decreases the lift to something like 0.08.

Which spoiler is he referring to?

Is it the US-style OEM rounded arch one:



or the Euro-style OEM trunk lip one:



?
Old 09-29-2005, 05:09 AM
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That would be the euro spoiler ... the NA OEM spoiler is a drag ... er grab handle ... er show piece.
Old 09-29-2005, 08:27 AM
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I am tring to get rid of my stock one but I don't want holes in the trunk
Old 09-29-2005, 09:55 AM
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swap trunks.
Old 09-29-2005, 12:20 PM
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I would love to but I don't want to just give the spoiler away, I need to find someone to trade lids and something else for it. maybe i will start looking into it
Old 09-29-2005, 12:48 PM
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im sure someone would give cash too. That's what a bunch of people with Sti's have done. Cash and swap.
Old 09-29-2005, 01:04 PM
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So the U.S. spec spoiler is not only ineffective, but it hurts us? I guess it's so small we'd never notice, plus none of us really drive at speeds where we'd be affected. Still, it makes me wonder why they did that.
Old 09-29-2005, 01:35 PM
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hmm... what does the ms spoiler do to drag coefficient?
Old 09-29-2005, 01:39 PM
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And then there is the RX8 SC Concept spolier on the white car, wonder what it creates?
Attached Thumbnails Which stock spoiler actually lowers drag coefficient?-dsc01568-spoiler.jpg  

Last edited by Nemesis8; 09-29-2005 at 01:41 PM.
Old 09-29-2005, 01:49 PM
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Originally Posted by Cool-Blue-Dad
Why? For the look, of course. Tell me you don't love the look!

If find the NA spoiler to be a good look and the Euro-lip to be ho-hum (no offense to those that have them - your thoughts may vary). Seriously, the european style may lower drag, but see how many posts here praise the distintive look and identity of the RX-8. I expect most owners show plenty of their spoiler (and the rest of the back of their car) to the less fortuntate in traffic.

I really would have liked a wing like in the X-Men 2 movie, though I remember looking into ordering an X-Men 2 styled RX-8 and running up a $40,000 price before closing that browser window 2 years ago.
You can order that wing. It's not that expensive.
Old 09-29-2005, 02:04 PM
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I don't think .01 drag should matter
Old 09-29-2005, 04:33 PM
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im actually going to doubt Yamaguchi here and say that no spoiler reduces drag coeff..F1, LeMans, Nascar, etc racing teams always have to fine tune the downforce on the vehcile so as to provide only what is needed to keep the car on the ground in the turns especially. On many high speed tracks, with few turns and many straights, you'll see teams run much less downforce in favor of top speed. They only need to overcome the lift so the car doesn't literally take flight on it's own. On curvy tracks however, they'll need more up front or in the rear, so the car has more traction in the turns..

of course, that all applies to purpose built race cars (which by design have very little lift, even without spoilers), and we drive mass produced street cars, but it's food for thought.
Old 09-29-2005, 04:40 PM
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Originally Posted by Nemesis8
And then there is the RX8 SC Concept spolier on the white car, wonder what it creates?

I dont know but it looks kinda funny to me
Old 09-29-2005, 04:42 PM
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i hate the euro-style one, and i love the way the stock one looks. I also dislike the fact that mazda would make a wing for the US that hurt performance, even if it was not a noticeable thing. Why not make a spoiler that improved performance but wasnt noticeable?
Old 09-29-2005, 05:09 PM
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good question^^^^
but why does mazda do a lot of things
Old 09-29-2005, 05:18 PM
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Originally Posted by epitrochoid
im actually going to doubt Yamaguchi here and say that no spoiler reduces drag coeff..F1, LeMans, Nascar, etc racing teams always have to fine tune the downforce on the vehcile so as to provide only what is needed to keep the car on the ground in the turns especially. On many high speed tracks, with few turns and many straights, you'll see teams run much less downforce in favor of top speed. They only need to overcome the lift so the car doesn't literally take flight on it's own. On curvy tracks however, they'll need more up front or in the rear, so the car has more traction in the turns..

of course, that all applies to purpose built race cars (which by design have very little lift, even without spoilers), and we drive mass produced street cars, but it's food for thought.
small lip spoilers like the euro 8 one can indeed reduce drag by reducing flow separation.
Old 09-29-2005, 05:21 PM
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Car companies make mildly functional wings and they get called ricey. You can't make a functional wing pretty.
Old 09-30-2005, 11:03 PM
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Car makers know about us. They know many of us buy a wing because it "looks cool," not because it does anything practical.
Old 10-01-2005, 06:07 AM
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Get a Mintblue spoiler if you want a functional spoiler...I'm sure that huge lip spoiler of theirs does something.
Old 10-05-2005, 02:33 PM
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Originally Posted by epitrochoid
im actually going to doubt Yamaguchi here and say that no spoiler reduces drag coeff..F1, LeMans, Nascar, etc racing teams always have to fine tune the downforce on the vehcile so as to provide only what is needed to keep the car on the ground in the turns especially. On many high speed tracks, with few turns and many straights, you'll see teams run much less downforce in favor of top speed. They only need to overcome the lift so the car doesn't literally take flight on it's own. On curvy tracks however, they'll need more up front or in the rear, so the car has more traction in the turns..

of course, that all applies to purpose built race cars (which by design have very little lift, even without spoilers), and we drive mass produced street cars, but it's food for thought.
id agree, any wing is going to add drag to the car, although from the looks of the euro lip...it might change the airflow enough to make the air move faster/cleaner so that the drag is reduced...the US OEM wing is just for looks, no downforce and increased drag.

The Mazdaspeed wing adds downforce, while it does increas drag slightly....and its adjustable, as Epi was talking about you can tune it for topspeed/tight courses.
Old 10-05-2005, 03:31 PM
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Originally Posted by 10kRPMS
I am tring to get rid of my stock one but I don't want holes in the trunk
Any good body shop could probably fill those holes in for you to the point where you probably never notice... shouldn't be too expensive either.

In regards to the original question...
Lip/Decklid spoilers are usually the most functional. As a generaly rule of thumb the further back it goes the better.
Old 10-05-2005, 03:36 PM
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Oh, i forgot to take into consideration the park bench spoilers. Those are definetely great, but look dumb as hell on a street car.
Old 10-05-2005, 04:11 PM
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I would have them filled but I am very picky and it would never be perfect in my head
Old 10-05-2005, 04:11 PM
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I also like the mazda speed
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