Functional Aero Parts and their effects ?

[glamcem]

Originally Posted by D K

I read that entire thread, and it doesn't say what it's made from.

"proprietary plastic" is not an actual material last time I checked.

D

and they don't answer when you directly ask them? I wish I had an answer to that but I am not familiar with all those plastic types..all I know is it survived after I ran off the track

[gramicci101]

Originally Posted by D K

I read that entire thread, and it doesn't say what it's made from.

"proprietary plastic" is not an actual material last time I checked.

D

They're keeping that info close to their chest for now. It's more than rigid enough for its intended purpose, but that's all they'll say.

[ddeflyer]

Originally Posted by D K

In for that as well.

Is it flexible/mouldable?

And they almost certainly don't have an actual proprietary plastic formulation; if they did and it had actual beneficial attributes over normal formulations then they wouldn't be bothering to make low volume aftermarket parts for our cars.

Ok, I should stop being grumpy about marketing slang :p

[D K]

Originally Posted by gramicci101

They're keeping that info close to their chest for now. It's more than rigid enough for its intended purpose, but that's all they'll say.

I don't know why they would keep it a secret.
Either way, it will come out soon enough.

The secret to the design is the aero work that they have done, not the material.

[dradernh]

Originally Posted by D K

The secret to the design is the aero work that they have done, not the material.

There's no secret about the design itself. They took a piece of flat stock, cut its leading edge to match the leading edge of the OEM bumper cover, drilled holes to facilitate mounting, and then priced it to sell.

[CSG David]

Originally Posted by D K

I don't know why they would keep it a secret.
Either way, it will come out soon enough.

The secret to the design is the aero work that they have done, not the material.

LOL @ material. It's great having a background in materials, manufacturing processes, and quality control in the aerospace industry. Get to hear so much marketing language getting thrown out there.

[D K]

Originally Posted by dradernh

There's no secret about the design itself. They took a piece of flat stock, cut its leading edge to match the leading edge of the OEM bumper cover, drilled holes to facilitate mounting, and then priced it to sell.

To give credit where credit is due, they did some cfd work, which is a lot more that can be said about a lot of other products that are out in the market.

[dradernh]

Originally Posted by D K

To give credit where credit is due, they did some cfd work, which is a lot more that can be said about a lot of other products that are out in the market.

Meaning that the final design was the result of, say, a half-dozen or a dozen different iterations run through the software, resulting in this design being the best compromise in terms of downforce and, given the target market, practicality of installation, as well as pricing? If so, I wonder what results the designer got when he tested with a radiused leading edge (when viewed edge-on), and why that edge isn't a part of the present design. It would also be interesting to see the result produced by a rounded shape at the leading edge (when seen from above), as opposed to one that follows the design of the bumper cover.

These CFD-generated images using a generic street car shape give an idea of why a designer might choose a radiused leading edge:

[Model Citizen]

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showp...96&postcount=1

it isn't this material?

[gramicci101]

@plucas is the designer, maybe he'll chime in.

I'm guessing the square vs. radiused leading edge is due to manufacturing time and cost. It's cut with a water jet, so it's quicker, and therefore cheaper, to cut a square edge. Which brings the customer's price down. And it's probably not very much worse for aero, considering it's only 8mm thick. Building the absolute perfect splitter is pointless if it costs $800 and no one buys it.

[gramicci101]

Originally Posted by Model Citizen

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showp...96&postcount=1

it isn't this material?

That is it. Hancha Grp designed it and is selling it under FT-86SF's name.

[dradernh]

Originally Posted by gramicci101

I'm guessing the square vs. radiused leading edge is due to manufacturing time and cost. It's cut with a water jet, so it's quicker, and therefore cheaper, to cut a square edge. Which brings the customer's price down. And it's probably not very much worse for aero, considering it's only 8mm thick. Building the absolute perfect splitter is pointless if it costs $800 and no one buys it.

I agree with you regarding manufacturing costs and pricing; they trump everything else when it comes to moving product. That's always reality. Regarding the effect upon aero, not so much; however, if you subscribed to the notion that a radiused leading edge is preferable, and depending upon the material, you could just radius it yourself (getting it right the first time, hopefully! lol).

[Reaper]

im surprised there aren't more homemade splitters popping up. Some of these companies charge a premium for flat stock. The ft86sf one is at least a good price and is water jet cut, so its at least made out of something relatively hard. Im about to just buy a big flat chunk of ABS and cut it up with a jig saw after seeing some of the prices on something im going to smash the hell out of.

[gramicci101]

Originally Posted by dradernh

I agree with you regarding manufacturing costs and pricing; they trump everything else when it comes to moving product. That's always reality. Regarding the effect upon aero, not so much; however, if you subscribed to the notion that a radiused leading edge is preferable, and depending upon the material, you could just radius it yourself (getting it right the first time, hopefully! lol).

Oh yeah, it would be easy. You just need a half moon bit for your router and you could get it perfect. But doing that for multiple multiple pieces adds a lot of time to the process, and time is money, as always. I'd probably do it for my own, I wouldn't do it as a manufacturer.