Curved or Straight air dam??

[99clipsgst]

I got a 6 foot piece of paver edging that hangs down 1.75" and the mounting hardware for an air dam on my 98 civic. I plan to put it on the car the way this corvette has it.


From the picture it looks like it has a slight curve to it on the ends. My question is would it be better to put the air dam on straight or should i put a curve in it to help the air flow to the sides.

Here is what I'm working with. I can't put it on the very front of the car due to my driveway.

[kach22i]

Curve or Vee shape, curve is better.

[sidecar]

Normally I would think curved in plan. OTOH, if a greater part of the spoiler is more oblique than a given curved plan, as in this case were the forward proximity isnt far from the most rearward, then a V may be better, and will avoid a high pressure bubble which could tend to lift the front of the car, something that true air dams do not endure (being at the extreme front).

You can resolve this by testing two plan examples against each other, and see what proportion of the parabolic curve is steeper than the diagonal by taking test samples of departure angle at even stations across the width.

Using straight geometry you will quickly see how the proximity of your most forward point plays this out, hard to tell in one dimension

I think it needs a lip as well

[kach22i]

Originally Posted by sidecar

.............. and will avoid a high pressure bubble which could tend to lift the front of the car..............

You have a good point.

Look at the Vette, no front intake for the radiator, it gets all of it's air from underneath from the rise in pressure. If 99clipsgts does not allow a path for the pressure it may lift the car.

The Vette is also one of the few cars to consider airflow and pressure in the engine bay and not force it all out the bottom of the engine bay. Some of the pressure/flow comes out the side vents and maybe the top near the bottom of the windshield (I'm not positive on that last part).

[euromodder]

Curving it will push (some of) the air to the sides rather than having it slip underneath.

The curve doesn't have to go all the way to the edge of the car (that pushes the air well beyond the width of the car, increasing apparent frontal area) it's OK to stop it +/- half a tyre width inside.

This is the air dam on the new VW up! :
NetCarShow.com

[sidecar]

cant post an image due to some stupid limitation
check out Prius spats

edit: fcol cant post links either
i guess your on your own

[kach22i]

Originally Posted by sidecar

Prius spats

Prius (ZVW30) | TRD


Also found this:
First Modifications - Honda CRZ Forum: Honda CR-Z Hybrid Car Forums


Found this thread, in this forum.
http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...ats-13669.html

Originally Posted by euromodder

This is the air dam on the new VW up! :
NetCarShow.com

[sidecar]

this is so dam annoying
I'll try send you a PM

[sidecar]

nope
'To be able to send PMs your post count must be 10 or greater.'
how totally ridiculous

google images
prius front spats
find an image of the prius front from below with numbers 1 & 2 in yellow on it

[sidecar]

fill in post