dude said: What do you plan to use as riser/air dam? If you simply bolt the splitter to the bumper, you end up with a splitter that is angled upwards, and you also end up without a proper air dam which would generate lift instead of actual down force.
I thought this was the way it was suppose to be done, help me out here, (Whacker)
Pretty sure he's saying that, when you bolt the bumper cover on, that splitter will be angled up, AND that the large openings in the bumper will let air through instead of creating a high pressure zone on top of your splitter.
In the context of setting up a splitter, the riser/air dam is the vertical part seen here:
It's meant to keep air from escaping between the splitter and front bumper, which would greatly reduce downforce.
If you can get a good seal between the splitter and front bumper you could get away with not running one.
Regardless of whether you use one or not, you should have some other support structure in place to keep the air dam from angling upwards (or pulling itself into the ground) such as the turnbuckles seen above.
In reply to GameboyRMH:
Yea, that e46 bumper cover up top definitely isn't sealed well....
The point of holes in the front bumper reducing downforce is valid, but the further up from the splitter the holes are, the lesser the effect. The overall effect on downforce from a few holes isn't huge either, so if you need the holes for cooling, don't be afraid to leave them open.
How much difference does height from the road make? Stock car tech has the splitter as close to the road as possible. Would a splitter 6 inches off the road do anything at all, other than giving you something to whack your shin?
It would do something, but not nearly as much. You want it to A: keep air out from under the car and B: keep air on top of it. Further from the ground impacts A but not B.
I was just about to type up a huge diatribe when I remembered that this is the internet and everything you ever need is already here... so, read this and you will know what to do:
http://www.formula1-dictionary.net/splitter.html
Key points:
It needs to be rigid. It needs to stay parallel with the road under load. It will need turnbuckles for support to achieve that with your setup. If I were you I'd make it removable from quarter turn fasteners on the front to get it low enough and still able to put it on a trailer. I would extend it all the way past the subframe using hook slides to keep it rigid at the rear too. Think about what you mount it to - when you high side a curb or hit a dirt berm when going off you don't want to cost yourself much to put it back on so allow it to sacrifice itself at the mounts in such a way it does not ball up under the car. It can't be so well mounted that it takes out the cooling system or radiator when it catches in the dirt.
Streetwiseguy wrote: How much difference does height from the road make? Stock car tech has the splitter as close to the road as possible. Would a splitter 6 inches off the road do anything at all, other than giving you something to whack your shin?
The downforce a splitter generates on top is the same regardless of ride height, and that's a lot. Underbody downforce increases sharply as ground clearance decreases. 6" isn't too much though.
You'll need to log in to post.
