Quote:
Originally Posted by Wally
I do believe the lip works as it disrupts airflow and therefore reduces lift. The difference is (I think) that the wing style will probably give some extra downforce to boot 
Walter |
You're right with that, the lip only reduces lift, and the wing provides downforce.
One can see how the wing produces downforce, but how the lip works is less intuitive (I think anyway). The lip acts as a sort of vortex generator to make the boundary layer (air flowing very close to the car surface) more turbulent. Turbulent boundary layers stay attached to the surface longer than laminar ones. This is why vortex generators are sometimes added to fighter jets, in order to increase the stall angle if the wings are designed poorly and the flow would normally seperate off the wing prematurely. Where the boundary layer is 'attached' (not seperated) it provides a pressure on the surface, so you can see that if the boundary layer seperates early this pressure is reduced and the car will start to lift. Make any sense? I'm not sure if the explanation was needed (or clear) but I just felt like explaining, for interests sake if anyone was interested.