Evo VIII Aero
Nov 21, 2008, 06:39 AM
#17
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I've been working through this quite a bit over the past couple years on my track Evo... simply because my home track is Road America. If you're unfamiliar with that track, it's basically a 4 mile road course, with 2 1+ mile straights. Hard to brakes and Aero is EXTREMELY important.
First tip from what I've read above... you need some harder suspension, so you can run the car lower. Out of almost anything Aero wise you can do to an Evo, getting it down and out of any airflow will help the most. It will also pave the way to allow front aero pieces that are going to sit low, from scraping and being damaged. The key to front Aero is the lower you can get it, the more useful it is.
One of the other biggest, easiest pieces, is the rear diffuser. I use the one from APR. I was able to do a back to back comparison with this piece and gained at least 5mph in top end at Road America with this. It corrects, what I think, is the biggest aero flaw in the Evo, the parachute effect of the rear bumper. At speed, the rear bumper acts just like a giant parachute, capturing air and causing a tremendous amount of drag.
From my experience, the only company that actually Aero tests their parts is Voltex. It's the only front end (non-splitter) that has been shown to actually create downforce. This is what I use on my front end. I would like to possibly add a splitter to the bottom of it, but as was posted before, if you can't stand on it, it isn't exactly useful.
I would also like to make any other bumps and pieces sticking out of the Evo, more minimized. Some of the other pieces like mirrors, antennas, and even the windows up/down can have an effect.
First tip from what I've read above... you need some harder suspension, so you can run the car lower. Out of almost anything Aero wise you can do to an Evo, getting it down and out of any airflow will help the most. It will also pave the way to allow front aero pieces that are going to sit low, from scraping and being damaged. The key to front Aero is the lower you can get it, the more useful it is.
One of the other biggest, easiest pieces, is the rear diffuser. I use the one from APR. I was able to do a back to back comparison with this piece and gained at least 5mph in top end at Road America with this. It corrects, what I think, is the biggest aero flaw in the Evo, the parachute effect of the rear bumper. At speed, the rear bumper acts just like a giant parachute, capturing air and causing a tremendous amount of drag.
From my experience, the only company that actually Aero tests their parts is Voltex. It's the only front end (non-splitter) that has been shown to actually create downforce. This is what I use on my front end. I would like to possibly add a splitter to the bottom of it, but as was posted before, if you can't stand on it, it isn't exactly useful.
I would also like to make any other bumps and pieces sticking out of the Evo, more minimized. Some of the other pieces like mirrors, antennas, and even the windows up/down can have an effect.
Nov 21, 2008, 07:22 AM
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Stand on it seems like an extreme standard. The AMS T1 splitter had a do not stand sticker on it. I'm guessing their's worked. Standing on a splitter would exert about 200 lbs per sqft. Go ahead and stand on those Voltex canards or any part of the fender and let me know how it turns out.
Be carefull not to just go too low and hard on your suspension, you'll end up with not enough travel and a car that pushes worse than stock.
Be carefull not to just go too low and hard on your suspension, you'll end up with not enough travel and a car that pushes worse than stock.
Nov 21, 2008, 09:10 AM
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Stand on it seems like an extreme standard. The AMS T1 splitter had a do not stand sticker on it. I'm guessing their's worked. Standing on a splitter would exert about 200 lbs per sqft. Go ahead and stand on those Voltex canards or any part of the fender and let me know how it turns out.
Be carefull not to just go too low and hard on your suspension, you'll end up with not enough travel and a car that pushes worse than stock.
Be carefull not to just go too low and hard on your suspension, you'll end up with not enough travel and a car that pushes worse than stock.
Nov 21, 2008, 10:01 AM
#21
I've been working through this quite a bit over the past couple years on my track Evo... simply because my home track is Road America. If you're unfamiliar with that track, it's basically a 4 mile road course, with 2 1+ mile straights. Hard to brakes and Aero is EXTREMELY important.
First tip from what I've read above... you need some harder suspension, so you can run the car lower. Out of almost anything Aero wise you can do to an Evo, getting it down and out of any airflow will help the most. It will also pave the way to allow front aero pieces that are going to sit low, from scraping and being damaged. The key to front Aero is the lower you can get it, the more useful it is.
One of the other biggest, easiest pieces, is the rear diffuser. I use the one from APR. I was able to do a back to back comparison with this piece and gained at least 5mph in top end at Road America with this. It corrects, what I think, is the biggest aero flaw in the Evo, the parachute effect of the rear bumper. At speed, the rear bumper acts just like a giant parachute, capturing air and causing a tremendous amount of drag.
From my experience, the only company that actually Aero tests their parts is Voltex. It's the only front end (non-splitter) that has been shown to actually create downforce. This is what I use on my front end. I would like to possibly add a splitter to the bottom of it, but as was posted before, if you can't stand on it, it isn't exactly useful.
I would also like to make any other bumps and pieces sticking out of the Evo, more minimized. Some of the other pieces like mirrors, antennas, and even the windows up/down can have an effect.
First tip from what I've read above... you need some harder suspension, so you can run the car lower. Out of almost anything Aero wise you can do to an Evo, getting it down and out of any airflow will help the most. It will also pave the way to allow front aero pieces that are going to sit low, from scraping and being damaged. The key to front Aero is the lower you can get it, the more useful it is.
One of the other biggest, easiest pieces, is the rear diffuser. I use the one from APR. I was able to do a back to back comparison with this piece and gained at least 5mph in top end at Road America with this. It corrects, what I think, is the biggest aero flaw in the Evo, the parachute effect of the rear bumper. At speed, the rear bumper acts just like a giant parachute, capturing air and causing a tremendous amount of drag.
From my experience, the only company that actually Aero tests their parts is Voltex. It's the only front end (non-splitter) that has been shown to actually create downforce. This is what I use on my front end. I would like to possibly add a splitter to the bottom of it, but as was posted before, if you can't stand on it, it isn't exactly useful.
I would also like to make any other bumps and pieces sticking out of the Evo, more minimized. Some of the other pieces like mirrors, antennas, and even the windows up/down can have an effect.
Nov 21, 2008, 11:39 AM
#22
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Stand on it seems like an extreme standard. The AMS T1 splitter had a do not stand sticker on it. I'm guessing their's worked. Standing on a splitter would exert about 200 lbs per sqft. Go ahead and stand on those Voltex canards or any part of the fender and let me know how it turns out.
Be carefull not to just go too low and hard on your suspension, you'll end up with not enough travel and a car that pushes worse than stock.
Be carefull not to just go too low and hard on your suspension, you'll end up with not enough travel and a car that pushes worse than stock.
Just because there's a sticker saying dont, doesnt mean its not possible. A properly designed front splitter can generate much more than 200 lbs of downforce, therefore, if you cannot stand on it, it wont hold up. Thanks for playing! Ill be here all week
Nov 21, 2008, 11:51 AM
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Without the bumper I found myself having to use the throttle to induce oversteer to keep the car turning.
With the bumper I was able to keep the throttle at a steady place, while just keeping the car on a line. It also was a LOT more stable. I was able to go through the carousel about 7-9mph faster with the Voltex front end.
Here's a picture of my car with the Voltex front:
Nov 21, 2008, 01:15 PM
#24
Thanks for the pics.
My concern is the bottom of the bumper - that integreated splitter. It sticks out many inches from the stock front, bringing the autocrosser closer to those cones he's trying not to hit ...
Removable would be sweet.
My concern is the bottom of the bumper - that integreated splitter. It sticks out many inches from the stock front, bringing the autocrosser closer to those cones he's trying not to hit ...
Removable would be sweet.
Nov 21, 2008, 03:14 PM
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Email Paul Gerrard, the lip he has on his car he can stand on, and it was the same lip the T1 car had, to my knowlege.
Just because there's a sticker saying dont, doesnt mean its not possible. A properly designed front splitter can generate much more than 200 lbs of downforce, therefore, if you cannot stand on it, it wont hold up. Thanks for playing! Ill be here all week
Just because there's a sticker saying dont, doesnt mean its not possible. A properly designed front splitter can generate much more than 200 lbs of downforce, therefore, if you cannot stand on it, it wont hold up. Thanks for playing! Ill be here all week
I'm sure the APR splitter doesn't generate anywhere near that much downforce...
Please let me know who sells splitters that one generate that much downforce (I'm guessing about 400-600lbs total for it to generate 200 lbs per sqft) and secondly, mounts to the frame, because anything mounting to the bumper won't hold up to your standards and if it generates monster amounts of downforce will rip the bumper off.
The APR splitter does generate some downforce, but not 100s of pounds.
Nov 21, 2008, 04:04 PM
#27
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Nobody sell an off-the-shelf front splitter that mounts to the chassis and can support real loads outside of voltex to my knowledge. Everything that does has been built by shops/people for their specific setup.
Nov 23, 2008, 09:45 AM
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I posted this in another post.
I have the APR IX Bumper with the integrated splitter from on my VIII. The delivered quality was garbage and needed days of prepwork to even it out. The groove separating the splitter section and the upper part wasn't even present on the driver side. The glass process they used left hundreds of tiny bubble holes that had to be filled and sanded. It had numerous stress cracks and the grill they use isn't a grill. It's literally chicken wire. Since it's FRP and not urethane, the body shop had to use an infinite amount of flex in the paint and primer to keep it from cracking. I wasn't happy honestly and even called APR and asked them if they were serious.
In hindsight, I would have got a pre-painted factory urethane IX front end and put a splitter on it. My friend was an underwriter at the shop so I didn't pay for most of the labor, but it came out to 17 hours labor, just to prep and paint it, at 105 an hour.
I replaced it because my wife hit a tire in the road the first day I got the car. After the work they put into it, it does look good now, but no thanks to APR. I may have the original photos I sent to APR when I complained about it but it was a while ago, so I'd have to hunt them down.
Not a fan of APR btw, just if you missed anything.
/brox
I have the APR IX Bumper with the integrated splitter from on my VIII. The delivered quality was garbage and needed days of prepwork to even it out. The groove separating the splitter section and the upper part wasn't even present on the driver side. The glass process they used left hundreds of tiny bubble holes that had to be filled and sanded. It had numerous stress cracks and the grill they use isn't a grill. It's literally chicken wire. Since it's FRP and not urethane, the body shop had to use an infinite amount of flex in the paint and primer to keep it from cracking. I wasn't happy honestly and even called APR and asked them if they were serious.
In hindsight, I would have got a pre-painted factory urethane IX front end and put a splitter on it. My friend was an underwriter at the shop so I didn't pay for most of the labor, but it came out to 17 hours labor, just to prep and paint it, at 105 an hour.
I replaced it because my wife hit a tire in the road the first day I got the car. After the work they put into it, it does look good now, but no thanks to APR. I may have the original photos I sent to APR when I complained about it but it was a while ago, so I'd have to hunt them down.
Not a fan of APR btw, just if you missed anything.
/brox
I second the bad vibes with the APR IX GT front bumper...fitment was terrible and the grille material is a joke. Bottom tabs to mount the splitter weren't even level which made putting the splitter on a real pain.
APR's carbon stuff kicks a$$ though - my car has excellent high speed aero with just the splitter, front canards and GTC 200 wing.
Nov 23, 2008, 07:54 PM
#29
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A real splitter doesnt not mount to the bumper. DARF. a few hundred pounds is the minimum a splitter should hold to be effective. a properly designed splitter can generate insane amounts of downforce (some from the front overhang, some from the lower pressure under the car)