Hey guys.

I tried looking online for track times with different wings and I couldnt find anything. Do you think the X high wing makes any different from the small or wingless? Or what speed do you think you have to go for the high wing to even work?

Thanks!

 

88 mph.

 

Where did you get that?

 

You haven't given us much information to go on. Are you talking about the stock wing on later GSR's or are you talking about an aftermarket wing? What kind of track events are you talking about? Drag racing, road racing, rally racing, autocross? If you drag race, then you probably don't want a wing at all as the increased drag can hurt trap speeds with a built motor. If you road race, you might want a taller and larger wing for more downforce. If you are just talking the street, I would stay with the stock wing or possibly go wingless as your tastes dictate.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFqJaBbsPGk&feature=youtube_gdata_player

 

haha I love the 88mph!! thats awesome. I have the high stock GSR wing. I was just wondering all around. I was wondering if it was just looks or they put it on there for a reason.

 

The stock GSR or MR wing is just for looks. its adds about 17 lbs of down-force only at 100 MPH. Thats per Mitsu's white paper. The lip spoiler adds 23 lbs at the same speed. Adding a vortex generator removes almost all of it, on either car.

 

How much downforce is needed to be considered functional at 100 mph? It it +100 lbs or more?

 

 

There's more math to it than that... You want as much downforce as you need to generate the handling characteristics necessary to reduce your lap times. We use the APR GTC300 wing and adjust the angle of the wing for different tracks. See, too much downforce and the car is not as fast on the straights. Also, too much DF keeps the rear from rotating nicely. Too little and oversteer, not enough grip. So, you want to coordinate the DF with the rest of your suspension set up to accomplish a desired impact. So, don't worry about the amount of down force, worry about how much you need and what you'll do once you have it...

 

Makes sense. So in a track setting is it a trial and error situation where you dial it in until it feels right for the driver? Or are you working on past experience and stick with what's worked? Or is it a combination of the two? I think it's the combination but I could be wrong.

 

Combination... Though I suppose, with some sophisticated equipment, you could dial it in, just so. Even then though you need to go by feel. Tires, ambient temp, pressures, all play a big role in grip and so your wing adjustments would be based on more than a static computation. For us, the wing and splitter angle are macro inputs, where tire pressure changes would be a micro input.

I suggest, if you are driving the car on the track and you are searching for grip you should find a good adjustable wing like one from APR or similar and set it for a minimum amount of angle and experiment. Write every change down.

 

Here is a paper done by Mitsubishi about the X high wing: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/10199204/20e_08.pdf

As for the comment about vortex generators reducing downforce, that simply is not true. Vortex generators as used by Mitsubishi mitigate flow separation at rear of the roof, thus reducing drag and lift. The increased air velocity over the wing actually increases, which should help downforce, not decrease it. http://www.mitsubishi-motors.com/cor...004/16E_03.pdf

 

I was under the impression that VG's weren't as useful on the X. Didn't read the PDF but the pictures I saw In the 2nd looked like an 8-9.

Was the VG added to the previous gen Evo to aid airflow because ofthe boxy design? And for a VG to work on a X it'd have to be moved further to the front of the roof?

I wish I had the ***** and cash to track my X. Hopefully one day I will.

 

Great docs Sampson, thanks!