Quote:
Originally Posted by WagonyGuy
Is there a "right" height for an air dam? I am going to put one, plus side skirts, on my Honda Fit soon. But what is the optimal height? The car has about 7 inches of clearance on the front and sides.
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There is a possibility that HONDA has already 'optimized' the airdam in their wind tunnel.
Hucho illustrated some of VW's airdam development and the 'right' airdam was very conditional,depending on attachment position,inclination if any,and depth.
Same for Chrysler's Daytona Charger.
You could easily eat up $4,000 in a wind tunnel experimenting with different configurations.
Here's my 2-cents:
*Build a 16-degree cardboard template and shove it into the base of your front tire.Nothing may go below this template.
*See if you can do a perfectly vertical,or slightly rear slanting dam,dropping off the bottom of your bumper, which is 7" off the deck.(if you go lower you add frontal area and will add drag back unless ridiculously low (racing only!).
*See if this respects your 16-degree template.
*If not,move the location rearwards until it just agrees with the template.
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For the side skirts,
*Build a 10-degree cardboard template for behind the front tires,front of rear tires,and rear of rear tires.
*This template will show your lowest points for the side skirts which won't rip off on a driveway ramp.
*You'd like the skirts to be as low as the airdam if possible.