I assume since a fair number of real race cars have splitters on the front that they actually do something.?

what is it that they do?

is it supposed to help top speed? braking stability? just help the car stick in everysituation?

thanks

 

It does for the front what a spoiler does for the rear - increase downforce.

 

Create downforce (if there a wing-like portion) and /or reduce lift by preventing air from going under the car. Remember it's always a balancing act between front and rear downforce and drag. Depending on the bumper/radiator configuration it can also increase cooling by trapping more air that has no place to go but through the radiator.

 

In my case i have had no issues of instability with my S2000 on the track..... with no splitter that is....

Is it possible that this thing may actually slow me down?

There is a HUGE straight at mid-ohio which I will need all the top speed i can get.... i already have a big wing on the back and have not had any stability problems at summit point going 140ish....

 

Sorry, I have to laugh a bit, nothing at Mid-Ohio is HUGE, it's only a 2.5-mile circuit...

If the front end of the car at speed does not feel like the front tires are on ice or you need to add a lot of steering input just to go straight, chances are good you are fine without a splitter. In theory adding a splitter would be increasing your drag as it directs more air over the car, thus increasing downforce.

As jlucas pointed out, sometimes splitters are a major factor in getting more air into a radiator opening for reasons of additional cooling.

For myself, I added the Coastal Metals splitter to my car, not for the track so much but to preserve the lower section of the front clip in case I should scrape going in or out of a steep driveway.

Anjoy Mid-Ohio, that is one of my favorite tracks, I love the downhill back straight and then flying through Madness.

 

it looks huge when i watched someones video.... my car tops out at 143 due to the 4.77's.....i would think I would be hitting that speed.?

Luckily all day friday is practice, so hopefully it won't rain and I will get the chance to run with the splitter, take it off, etc... and see what the differences are..... i have not really had any issues with stability with my car, but this is the "national" event so i thought i would blow the $125 to see if it helped..... winner gets about $800.00 worth of hoosiers....

 

You are thinking you will get 147 on the downhill back straight right after coming out of the keyhole? I have not driven my S there, but I suspect you are being a bit optimistic.

 

Splitters don't always increase drag, in fact mild ones (like the 2" down and 2" out RM Racing piece) can reduce it slightly. At least with the S2000, airflow underneath the car is the "dirtiest" path it can take.

Scot, I think you're going to find that with a splitter your high-speed handling balance shifts towards oversteer. Were I you, I'd anticipate this by dialing in another couple degrees angle-of-attack of your rear wing. The net result will be a car that feels much more stable and planted (and is thus faster) in high-speed corners.

 

you may be right.... i only watch one guy's in car video and it seemed like a really long straight..... it looks fairly flat, so I may be overly optomistic.....

Now I am paranoid about this stupid splitter.... sometimes "if it ain't broke, don't fix it".... luckily I can remove it fairly quickly..... i was just looking for that extra little bit without attempting anything too wild.

I may eat some ex-lax the day before.....

 

If your car is working fine, I wouldn't mess with it too much. Aerodynamics can be quite hard to tweak without a lot of practice. Too many things interact with other things.

But it is something you might want to try as a controlled experiment sometime, just so you find out the answers for your own situation.