Found this gem about
downforce in the
Nissan Infiniti Car Owners' Club.
BrianHarte,
one of the forum members, posted an informative
Drift Tengoku article that ran a test on the different amount of
downforce generated by different rear wings on a
zenki S14
Here's the overall results as shown on the graph, plotting
downforce generated (dependant variable) against speed (independent variable) up to 150 km per hour. As shown from the lowermost gray line, the stock s14 with no wing experienced negative
downforce (i.e. 'lift') of almost 40 kg! Now you know why your car feels 'floaty' when you are zooming along the North South Highway...
From ascending amount of
downforce generated, we have the following results:
Stock wing generates a measly 3 kg of
downforce. Well I suppose its better than having lift...
B Wave
wangan/whale tail wing generates a surprisingly high 36 kg of
downforce. My guess is that
Wangan style wings have to compromise between
downforce and top speed.
The
Cusco GT wing shown above generates decent
downforce of 62 kg, about the same amount of stability you will get if you have an average sized passenger in your car. Now we are talking...
Another
Cusco GT Wing, the '3D' model with higher stands (from what I can gleam from the Japanese words) tops the comparison with 89kg of
downforce.
If you analyse the data, some important findings can be observed:
1)
Whether ancilliary aero aids like front carnards generate meaningful downforce. The test car has front
carnards but as you can see the wingless S14 is still experiencing lift. However, no test was done on a wingless AND
carnard-less S14 so we can tell how much
downforce the
carnards generated on their own. But I will venture a guess that it's not that alot.
2)
Automotive aerodynamic design has come a long way and performance cars nowadays generate
downforce right out of the box. I tried searching for data on the amount of
downforce a R35
GTR generated but could only find that it has a low "coefficient of drag of 0.27" and "negative lift (
downforce) generated at speed". A more specific quantification comes from the
Dodge Viper ACR which generates 1000 lbs (454.5 kg!!) of
downforce at 150 mph (240km/h)!
3)
The most important finding: Wings are functional even at normal driving speeds. A common misconception (which I have previously as well) is that wings only come into effect at high speeds. But the data show that at 90km/hr (expressway speeds in Singapore), a S14 with a
Cusco 3D GT wing is generating 40 kg of
downforce versus the wingless version experiencing about 15kg of lift! That's a significant difference of 55 kg at normal speeds...
Some would argue about GT wings being too ricer for day-to-day cars. While I wouldn't
necessarily disagree, at least the data shown here is that they are without a doubt, functional
.
Regular and eagle-eyed readers will remember his car looking like this.
After parting with much dough (a new set of bonnet, front bumper, headlights AND front fenders don't exactly come cheap), his S14 is transformed into a sharper and more intense looking creature.
So Zenki or Kouki, which one is your favourite?
I know I am supposed to focus on the Singapore and Malaysian scene but what's a Silvia lover to do when gorgeous photos of a professional drift spec S13 all the way from UK landed in my inbox?
this plain Jane...
to this lean, mean, drifting machine.
TURN - Being a competitive drift car, the S13 has everything but the kitchen sink thrown into its suspension system. Read all this in one mouthful: RG type D coilovers with pillow ball top mounts, Driftworks front adjustable lower arms, rear adjustable upper and lower arms, adjustable tension rods, solid steering bush, rose jointed steering arms with angle spacers, Nismo front subframe and finally, Cusco front and rear strut braces......
John welcomes potential sponsors big or small, so if you are looking for exposure to the fast growing British drift market, drop him a mail at glaisterps13@aol.com to discuss further.
3 muscular Skylines showed up during our recent Silvia gathering. Great pals of Silvia Club SG and easily more than 1200 ponies worth of inline-six, turbocharged, Nissan power shown above!
Actually this is a ER34. But nonetheless, the immaculate paintwork coupled with tasteful mods like Nismo LM GT4 (damnit, I couldn't find a photo showing off the gorgeous rims) and Brembo brakes (damnit again) equates to a great looker and performer.
Some say this is the fastest CityCab in Singapore... Jokes aside, this is daily driven by the ex chief moderator of Nissan Enthusiasts Club Singapore. Word of advice, don't mess with him on the North South Highway.
Lastly, regular readers will remember this GarageR-prepared monster in a previous post.
I guess this is what happen when you could no longer drive your RX7 or Silvia because you started a family, but would rather die than drive a MPV or a bland econobox. Cue the Lancer Evolution IX Wagon!
Judging from that cannon muffler, I am pretty sure his kids usually get to school on time....
A rich and car crazy (I mean my words in a good and jealous way) Hong Kong guy got a carbon fiber body kit manufacturer to custom mold all the body panels and internal fittings of his Lotus Elise. Replacing everything and anything that is possible, he managed to shave a significant 100 kg (!!) off the already lithe roadster (stock weight 850kg).
Spotted this white Evo X yesterday at Market Street. Vented CF bonnet, 12-spoke 18-inch rims and big Endless brakes combined for a tough street look. Anyone has contacts with the Evo X club in Singapore? Let me know if you do, perhaps it's time for Julian and I to do a club feature.
Posts
