Hey guys I am considering purchasing a pair or two of canards to give my s a little bit of downforce since i will only have an oem spoiler. I am comparing each of these canards from these links:

Jdm race canards 207.00
http://www.gotuning.com/product_info.php?f...roducts_id=1013

Apr front canards 221.00
http://www.gotuning.com/product_info.php?f...roducts_id=1011

Jdm street canards 135.00
http://www.gotuning.com/product_info.php?f...roducts_id=1012

My questions are:
1. Are front canards significantly functional?

2. Do you have canards? and if so, what are your opinions of them looks and performance wise, and do you feel any kind of difference when driving?

3. Do you think they are worth it in function, and do you think they make an s look prettier? (preference question)


And please POST PICS if you have canards, and where you got them. Thanks..

 

Some thoughts

3. No, and they are pretty ugly on the clean S front nose
2. No, I don't have them
1. Some thoughts,

Canards can be significantly functional as part of a overall aero package, but they are much more of a device for tuning balance and flow shaping than they are significant as stand alone generators of force. They can have a dramatic effect on the airflow down the side of the car and can work with barge boards to stop air from curling under the side of the car and reducing the effectiveness of a rear diffuser. Also, they can seperate flow ahead of the wheel wells and reduce drag losses there. On the negative, they can reduce effectiveness of front splitters.

Canards are not a preferred method to generate downforce because they create a very turbulent and often seperated flow at the front of car and you pay big drag penalties for that flow covering the rest of the car.

If I were wanting to improve the aero of a street car for track work, I would work in this order

Wing - works fairly self contained to generate downforce
Splitter - cuts down flow under the car to reduce front end lift and under body turbulence (drag)
Flat floor, barge boards, diffuser - reduces drag and creates massive downforce from boundry layer manipulation and huge surface area
Canards, vortex generators, gurney flaps, etc - work to shape flow towards or away from specific parts of the aero package

SO... in most cases I think people buy cannards because J's racing sells them and they want to drive a race car. BUT if you are willing to go all out and do your homework (either with yarn taped to the side and a camera or CFD) it could get you a second here or there.

 

they are only nice on race and track cars or cars with wide body kits. do not waste ur money on them if u daily drive ur car

 

Zoomie's response is dead on. I would go for splitter first personally because of the front lift, over the wing. But that is a minor issue.

 

Excellant advice, thanks. Just so you know, It IS a daily and it is FI. My goals for it were straight line drag- no circuits or autox. I know a wing would be my best option, However I don't enjoy the look of a wing on an s2k (although i can be openminded) and diffuser packages are way to expensive for me- at least right now. You guys recommended splitters, but I have a mugen lip already (last time I checked, they don't have under splitters to go with this lip) and I have chargespeed rear caps and side diffusers but I don't notice a smoother difference when dragging. I still feel my car get light as hell and a little unstable on high speeds and it kills me. I figured canards would be my best low budget purchase for good looks and function on high speed straights but ur advice points elsewhere... So for my goal, do you recommend anything else not too pricey that may help on straight drag runs besides what you mentioned?

 

If it feels light at high speed I would guess that you are getting front end lift. The wing might make that worse. So, I would recommend a splitter. I don't mean to frustrate you by recommending something that doesn't exist but maybe you could custom make one out of some thin gauge aluminum, or you can always order sheets of carbon fiber.

A second benefit could be better control of engine bay cooling if you chose to go with a vented hood, or by leuvering the splitter.

The canards might work for you, but my impression would be that you are kinda taking the hard way. If you buy 'em and give them a try definitely let me know!

 

also you should check front toe and caster.

 

Interesting... Well making a custom splitter sounds like a good option but it would be a lot of work and might end up being ghetto if I do it (lol). Are there any companys out there that make splitters to go directly under the engine bay BEHIND the lip (since I have that mugen)? If not, the only thing I can think of is to get a pair of canards.. I think they give the car an aggressive look too..(I'm also dropping the car a little lower to help).

im still getting mixed signals though:

Some say canards help with downforce and smooth air flow at high speeds while others say it slows you down or roughens the car's feel at high speeds, like turbulence. (like what zoomie said)
So which one is it guys? Final verdict....

 

if you're trying to increase high speed stability, downforce on the front is what you want. you need a splitter. you can make one by yourself. i know skunk2's race teams make their own with plywood because it's stiff, cheap, and easily replaceable... they break them often. since you won't really risk breaking it on high speed drag runs, you can make it out of anything you want(aluminum, plywood, carbon fiber. in order for a splitter to be effective it would need to stick out past the bumper. start with half an inch, then tune it from there. the further it is from the bumper, the more downforce it generates.

 

Sounds like you are leaning towards canards because you like the look, so go for it and report back to us on if it helps.

Croc is right, check your alignment, we might be way over thinking this and you just have a screwy front setting.

As far as getting mixed messages on canards, they definitely do not smooth flow, unless they mean they direct flow away from other high drag areas.