TRD Aero Turbulator
 

The TRD Japan window shopper is back with another question. Anyone know if the TRD Aero Turbulator (MS319-18001) increased anything in terms of reducing drag/increasing downforce/etc? Or does anyone know what it theoretically could do? My guess is possibly forcing air away from the wheel well or somehow adding turbulence so it doesn’t create drag in the wheel well? TIA

I would imagine they are for reducing drag on the side of the car. I’m not an engineer so this stuff is over my head, but it somehow allows the fast moving air on on the sides of your front bumper to “break through” the boundary layer being created by the wheels spinning super fast so that flow can remain attached to the side of the car post the front wheels. I don’t know about the rear pieces though. I also don’t know if these 4 pieces make a noticeable difference in the real world.

This could also be 100% wrong so I’m interested in hearing from others.

Looks like they're going for a mini canard/splitter side-plate effect (see below), which theoretically diverts air away from the wheel wells, improving downforce and drag. But the TRD aero turbulators seem too small and only attach using double-sided tape, which tells me it's not having much impact with oncoming air (but I'm no engineer either, just speculating).

Like you, I like having TRD parts on my car, but I try to stick with the functional pieces or ones that I can feel. I just don't see this as one of them; they seem more like a aesthetic piece. And in my opinion, not very aesthetically pleasing. They look like something out of the ricer section from AutoZone :(

The TRD part he is referencing does not have a pronounced outward flap when viewed from the front like the splitter end plates and dive planes you show.

Maybe @VerusEric would like to chime in and give us some learning.

My guess is vortex generation, to either evacuate the wheel well, or clean up it's airflow down the car.

Yea, that's why I said "mini" ;)

Ahhh, just my daily reading comprehension fail :bonk:

I’m not even close to an expert on this type of stuff either lol. I hope to be one day.

I would assume it really is for some kind of vortex generation or something like that, but it just puzzled me since I haven’t seen anything like this on any other car. It’s like the TRD Side Stabilizers. You know it’s doing some kind of work on reducing drag, but you have no idea how much (I have them). Hopefully someone who actually knows about this type of stuff posts on this, because if it’s effective for reducing drag or something an ok amount, I’ll bite the cost it is for it.

I have a decent amount of TRD parts on my car right now, and all of them are functional a decent amount (canards, front lip, aero fins, side stabilizers, member brace set, door stabilizers, etc). I know TRD Japan actually does a decent amount of R&D on their products, but they just come up with effective stuff that no one would think about at times. I’m all about function over looks, so I’ll pass if they are pretty much only for looks. I have no idea though.

On the other hand, I wouldn’t say they aren’t necessarily a canard, more of that splitter end plate type. TRD already has their canards. Double sided tape isn’t always a bad thing, as it’s super strong and doesn’t require hole drilling, which in this case might be a good idea saying where the side marker wire is. To my understanding, the front actually bolts on through the wheel well as well as the tape. I’m just interested to see how a knowledgeable person thinks about this.

Your guess seems pretty solid to me, it likely increases a bit of front end downforce/high-pressure while increasing wheel well evacuation. Until it is tested though, that is a guess.

Do you think that the mini spoiler on the rear wheel arches on the GR86 are better for evacuating wheel wells than the aero turbulators?
BRZ also have them on more recent 2019-2020-2021 BRZ: 57756CA010 https://www.ebay.com/itm/293198443576

Those are not for air evacuation. Allegedly they aid in rear end stability.

ETA: Not sure why anybody would buy those from Japan, when you can order them from Subaru US for $10.45 MSRP ea.

Which do you say are NOT for air evacuation? The aero turbulators or the part I linked?

The rear arch spoilers you linked to.

Do those go behind the rear wheels? I have a hard time believing they do anything meaningful but I've seen weirder things work. Again, just assumptions until proven through some form of testing.