Louvered wheel wells on race cars

[some_other_dave]

Originally Posted by SuperTrooper

The Plymouth Superbird had 'em.

My understanding is that those were actually added to the production cars because the race cars, when lowered and then running on the banked turns, would rub the tire against the top of the fender. So they chopped a hole to make a little room, and stuck the "vent" on it, then they had to do the same thing to the production cars so they could use it on the racer.

Not sure if that is actually true, or "urban myth".

-soD

[lunarhighway]

i've heared that story too but i think it was something they tolled about the vents to confuse the competition...since the true function of these things still discussed here today i think they did a pretty good job.

[cfg83]

Sayyad -

Originally Posted by Sayyad

The vents on the Jetta are likely fully functional but they'd be installed to vent hot air from the engine bay, most likely.

I finally saw the Jetta again last week, and you are correct. The wheel well had no interior holes/slots/connections to the louver vents, so it must be for the engine.

CarloSW2

[red91sit]

Originally Posted by lunarhighway

i've heared that story too but i think it was something they tolled about the vents to confuse the competition...since the true function of these things still discussed here today i think they did a pretty good job.

Aero Warriors - The <I>Scoop</I> On The Scoops

This is the most comprehensive explanation of the superbird / daytona's fender vents. I also vaguely remember hearing that these vents were designed to help remove rubber build up on modern racing cars with their ultra soft rubber compounds.