Hi Forum,

I would like to hear from people who own an Evo VIII or IX (preferably a black one) with a Vortex generator fitted.

I own an IX GSR since December 05 and noticed after a few months that my rear trunk was full of scratches. With every passing week there were more. I brought it to a body shop and they took em all off. After another 2 months they kept coming back and some people suggested I might have a cat or some other animal playing around on my car during the night.

Wednesday this week i brought it to the same bodyshop again and all was fine until Friday, when a single scratch was visible again.

Since I covered the rear of my car every time I put it in the Garage, it couldn’t have been an animal, so it must be the aerodynamic effect of either the rear wing or the Vortex thingy or both.

If that's the case, I would like to hear from other people if they have the same issue....?

Thanks for your help,
Ramon
Picture of one of the scratches can be found here
http://www.evo-forum.de/album_page.php?pic_id=4804

 

I guess it is possible.

However, I think that the wing would cause any small debris to stay in the air, not push down toward the trunk. The vortex generator may disrupt the air in a way that more is re-directed below the wing ... but that wouldn't make sense aerodynamically. Putting more air toward the trunk would make the wing less efficient. The 2 peices are made to work together, right?

Unless you drive regularly through lots of floating debris, I wouldn't think it was the vortex generator. Also, you should have these scratches on the nose of the car as well if it is being caused by debris in the air ... it's gotta pass the rest of the car to hit the trunk, right?

You mentioned that you cover your trunk in the evening ... have you made sure that cover doesn't have any debris on it that might scratch?

EDIT: Actually, thinking about this some more ... the air under the wing does move faster than the air above. This would mean that the pressure up top is greater, but if something were to get past that pressure zone, it would be accelerated under the wing and toward the rear of the car. If it were heavier than the air, it would fall toward the trunk. So, it's probably more likely than I first thought. Sorry for the partially incorrect information.

Good luck with a solution!

 

Hi TouringBubble

Thanks for this nice assessment. The cover I put up every evening does not cause the scratches as I only started this recently, and I had the scratches before that. It is just a very light plastic (just like your regular light plastic shopping bag). Actually the purpose of the cover was to avoid the possibility of animals to dance around on the trunk.

Could it be then that the Vortex is not fitted correctly? Example, the (uh, oh) nipples are too much positioned towards the rear of the car thus the air that should be directed towards the wing is directed towards the trunk instead?

Is it possible anyway to fit this Vortex part incorrectly, I believe that once you stick the middle hole through the antenna base, you can’t do much wrong anymore!?

Ramon

 

i doubt flying debris would scratch the paint, it would likely chip it. is it possible the scratches happened elsewhere you park your car?

 

RRRS,

The only other place I park my car is at my workplace’s parking lot. There are about 800 ppl working here and maybe 600 cars parked every day. No, that’s not it, other (black) cars would have scratches too then.

The scratches are definitively caused while driving, that much is sure.

I already sent an email to Mitsubishi Motors Europe 2 days ago; let’s see what they have to say. If you read this MMC article, you can clearly see that, with a Vortex fitted, the trunk has a much higher pressure area than without one, so there’s a chance that the Vortex is causing this.

http://www.mitsubishi-motors.com/cor...20generator%22

So, who owns a black VIII / IX with a Vortex then??

Ramon

 

Maybe...if its not too much of a hassle...take a picture of the marks...to have a before starting pic, take the VG off for a week or so and see if more scratches appear...but thats just me because I'm **** like that.

 

I have a black IX with VG and i never had that issue, hope it works out for you