GI: Functinal Aero Parts, Front splitter and underbelly pan.
 

I want to guage interest in functional raceing aero parts. I am going to have a few items built for my car and wondered if anyone else might be interested, depending on price and effectiveness of course.

I am looking at

1: A front splitter for the mazdaspeed bumper. A functional front splitter will make good front end downforce while only adding a small amount of drag. Similar to the one Eric Meyer built for his race car and you see on all the rx8 race cars. https://www.rx8club.com/showpost.php...91&postcount=6

This will probably be made out of black alumalite but I might have someone who could build this out of real carbon fiber. My goal is to have make this piece easy to R&R so that I dont have to drive around on the street with it.

We will also be making one to fit the stock bumper.

2: Underbelly pan. High end cars and race cars alike have smooth underbellys. I believe there is one made for the s2000, I have seen them on rx7's, miata's and even srt4's. In all forms of racing, a smooth underbelly improves CFD and reduces lift. This could be made out of aluminum or ABS plastic. I have the mazdaspeed sideskirt so I would want to to extend all the way to the sideskirt avoiding the exhaust and transmission to allow proper cooling. Not sure how far back it could go. Idealy it would connect up to the rear mazdaspeed underspoiler and use louvers to help vent the heat from the rear mufflers..

3: Undertray: GT Spec is making one but at $450 and it does not include the uprights, I think I can do better. A new undertray wont improve anything over stock, but it will give me some good connecting points for my front splitter. I already have a beatrush engine panel ( http://www.good-win-racing.com/Mazda...61-0048RX.html ), but I could easily have an optional one built that would work with the undertray.

Feel free to discuss all things related to the items I have mentioned. Interest, function ect. Or you can just put in your vote.

The drilled out the rivets that attach the middle piece to the uprights and replaced them with bolts so I could easily remove the center piece for access to my single oil cooler and it works good but I would like an aluminum undertray and some belly pans to smooth out the bottom. I believe the 09's have some additional underbelly pans.

middle piece = plastic undertray from engine oil pan to the front bumper.

If an aluminum undertray is produced it would include aluminum uprights and they would detach from aluminum undertray.

Yes the 09 came with a couple small underbelly pan pieces but probably less then half as large as the pieces I want for my car. If I can cover it up without causing clearance or heat issues I will cover it up. The 09 has a .30 CFD instead of the .31 from 04-08. My guess is that most of that is from the underpanels. Imagine how much more improvment can be made if 75% of the underbelly is smoothed out.

Less drag, less left, better handling and even better MPG can all be achieved. It shoudl be noted that for best results, a complete aero package is needed. Sideskirts, a rear underspoiler/difusser and a front splitter or lower front bumper clearance, are all part of a complete package needed for best results of these parts. The whole package is greater then the sum of its parts.

Had the car on the lift today making a templet for the aluminum undertray and uprights. The first protype should be test fitted and modified by the end of next week.

The front splitter looks to be a simple piece to make. Our only concern is that it may reduce the amount of air getting to the brakes so some sort of air ducts might be built into the the splitter. My designer/builder is talking about using alumalite for the front splitter. Alumalite is corrugated plastic with aluminum on both sides to provide rigidity and durability. It will not swell or corrode from the inside which makes it a great choice. Alumalite is also lightweight and easy to fabricate.

The 3 main features I will require for the splitter are, 1: Functional, 2: Easily removable, 3: Minimal modification to the vehicle required to mount.

I may be interested in some products but how will you be testing their effectiveness?
the way you're building the splitter looks promising :)

A front splitter will work in track conditions, no question about it. All the rx8 race teams use them unless the rules dont allow it. Also keep in mind that at high speeds out front end will lift. A splitter should eliminate all the lift and even produce downforce.

The Aluminum undertray wont improve anything, just a durabilty item and makes a better mounting location for the splitter.

A smooth underbelly pan works, used on race cars, the 09 rx8 added a few panels and its imply basic race car aero dynamics.

With that said. I will test my vehicle on the track with and without the splitter. I will track lap times and use video to document the speeds in the turns. Thats the best I can do. I dont have a windtunnel or fancy data acquestion equipment at my disposal

Depending on how difficult it is to R&R the underbelly pan, I may track test with and without it as well. Of course track testing is not the most accurate way to test aero parts, there are so many varibles that can effect track speeds, like track temp, tire condition and most of all the driver. However like I already stated above, a splitter is a tried and true item that WILL produce front end downforce. A smooth underbelly is also a tried and true item the will reduce drag and helps to reduce lift.

Stated before and I will say it again. For best results, a complete aero package is needed. Sideskirts, a rear underspoiler/difusser, rear spolier, a front splitter and or air dam and lower ground clearance, are all part of a complete package needed for best results of these parts. The whole package is greater then the sum of its parts.

Yep, the splitter will definitely work and that's why I already have a large wooden panel to take measurments in my garage :)
The fact is that flat bottoms must be studied carefully to avoid producing lift instead of downforce so that is the only thing holding me back from following that route at the moment.
I like your ideas though!

Curious how you think a underbelly pan could produce lift? From everything I have read, the lift caused by the air under the vehicle is from turbulant, slow moving high pressure air. So adding smooth panels to reduce the terbulant air can only reduce drag and lift not cause lift.

Here is a link with pictures of the panels added to the 09 rx8. I believe mazda was very conservative with adding panels. They could have done a lot more but these are probably the areas that needed the most attention. http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/m...bo/09under.jpg

You forgot to add the link!
Anyway, if you force air down the car a flat panel may become a wing and produce lift. Ride height should be closely watched for in order to make any under car aerodynamic parts work properly. If you're not going to make the flat bottom the way i'm thinking of it then i apologize.
I'm not trying to bash your ideas because I actually like them :)

Added the link sorry about that.

I do not feel bashed at all, so not worries.

You are correct about ride height being a factor. A smooth underbelly is just one piece to the puzzle.

I think it would be hard to design something that would cause lift even if I tried. The fact is, that the air is going to be under the car and the air will take the path of least resistance. The edges of the panels will fit close to the vehicle and be mostly sealed so air wont get inside them. If there is an area where the panel can not fit tight against the vehicle, we will probably add louvers so any pressurized air can easily escape. An example of this is at the rear of the vehicle. Idealy a panel will be added to go from the rear of the fuel tank, under the rear suspension/ subframe and under the mufflers and connect to the rear bumper or rear diffuser. Heat louvers will be added to allow the heat from the mufflers to escape. I have the mazdaspeed underspoiler/diffuser but we may build a rear diffuser for people with stock bumpers.

Anyways, the person working on this project has more experiance then I do and will design a nice piece.

Bump to the top.

The aluminum undertray should be getting finished and test fitted this week and work will begin on both a Mazdaspeed and a stock bumper splitter.

im interested in the mazdaspeed splitter :) have looked and talked to Eric Meyers** about his that was made, and i haven't found the time to actually start a template of what he made. GL and waiting to see some samples!

bump... lets see how this turns out...

I never got around to making my own either, I had to hire someone to actualy get it done. :)

So apparently some people really like splitters. So much in fact that they are showing interest in both the mazdaspeed bumper and the stock bumper splitters. Not sure how thats going to work out? HAHA

go for mazdaspeed, there are several out there for stock bumpers that ive seen for purchase/ or custom made that look great! but only one i have seen for mazdaspeed was one from carbon creations.

We plan on making both. And I these should be the first truly functional splitters for any rx8 bumper, aside from what the race teams make for themselves.

:worship: made with quality and decent price? :D

Thats the plan.

Here check out the builders work on dodge neon srt4's

http://www.srtforums.com/forums/f104/

He had some splitters up for sell but I dont know where the threads went.

Dont be surprised if he makes us some nice sway bar end links and a rear brake kit with the slick spot caliper.

So hows everything coming with the mazdaspeed front lip? any more progress?

interested in the aluminum undertray, any news?

This project has hit a speed bump. The guy I had working on this needed to take a year long military assignment away from home, so he is no longer available. I have been refered to a builder of Nascar bodies. We will be starting on things in the next 3-4 weeks.

On the plus side, he is familar with some new/different materials used by nascar for splitters. Depending on the price we may or may not use this new product. Brief description: The product is light and strong like CF but it has a rubbery texture to it that allows it to scrap or rub off without breaking or effecting the fuction of the splitter.

Keep us in the loop :)

Month old bump any updates?

Hope to get my guy working on this project soon.