What to do about front downforce... (I don't wanta bumper)

[VRSICK]

I read that the kamei(sp?) front air dam was the best for front downforce, but you have to have a euro spoiler for that. I'm not really interested in getting a bumper, I like the way it looks with no bumper, much cleaner and NICER!! anyways, what else can I do to improve the downforce? I'm thinking of maybe a splitter on both fenders, or maybe a front spoiler from another car but down low in front? maybe corrado? don't know, but if you have any suggestions, please let me know!

Thanx

[zen]

i've been debating the same thing. i am probably going the splitter route, but not sure yet.

[beetle1303]

why dont you place a splitter underneath the front of your beetle like the one that f1 cars have today. i mean in a way that its not visible from outside unless if you lift the car, an d like this you can keep the clean look of a bumperless beetle.
Just a thought.

Chris

[judgie]

hello mate
been looking into this for some time and you have 2 options open to you.
1.stop as much air as possable from going under the car.
deep front spoiler/airdam and splitter + dive planes on the out side edge of the wings
2.make the route under the car as quick and smooth as possable.
smooth entry under the front of the car into a flat floor pan from the leading edge of the car to a defueser at the rear.
remmeber if you do anything to the front you need to do somthing to the back.
thare is loads of info out thare you just got to find it.any thing you do will dramaticaly change the way your car looks and handels.
good luck with the black art of areodynamics and put some pic's up.i will when i'm done with mine.
cheers rob

[VRSICK]

Ok, well let me show you what I am doing to the rear already, and this will give you an idea why I want to keep the front as clean as possible.


Heres my baby:



She's still got alot of work to do.

[VRSICK]

Heres the G60 engine, obviously bigger than the stock 1600.

[VRSICK]

(BTW, why can I only post a few or one images per post, and then wait 30 secs until I can post again )

[VRSICK]

And finally, heres my 'over the top' solution



Now, I realize that the spoiler will provide some downforce in the rear, which is great, and hopefully it will look like it was meant to go there, but I refuse to put bumpers on the car. Origionally I wanted to put 356 bumpers (the car is sopposed to be made after my dad's '60 super 90) but I was quick to find out that the bumpers had a fitment problem on the bug. The euro bumpers won't due either, since I would on;y settle for the 356 ones, so now i'm stuck with a down force problem in the front. I was thinking of something like this:



But maybe carbon joe can do something like that, so we wouldn't have to get it from over seas... I got a guy that works in fiberglass too, maybe he can cook up sometihng for me, but i doubt it, this isn't his thing.

[volkdent]

What color are you going to paint the bug? Mine is currently white, and I think I'll be building an "airdam" that is offset back from the front lower edge of the fender. If it is painted black or is CF, then it will almost not be visible against a light colored car. If you want to play around, get some blue board foam insulation, some spray glue, and a few body work files, a knife and some course sandpaper. Make a few large blocks that will fill the space your thinking of building something into by gluing pieces together. Then you'll be able to easily sand and carve the foam to a shape you like. Do one side first, then make templates to carry the shape to the other side. Once your done, give it many coats of LATEX paint. Any oil based paint will ruin the foam. Do some test patches to make sure you're OK, then spread on a thin coat of body filler. Do some more sanding and shaping, then you can copy that shape in fiber glass. Now you have a plug. Then you can copy that shape BACK to fiberglass or CF or whatever. LOTS OF WORK! But if you've got everything else done, why not!!!

Jason

[BuG60]

Its gonna be painted silver, and I don't have everything else done, there is still ALOT of work to be doen before it goes to pain in 3-5 weeks or so. Oh, btw, this is my new handle.

That sounds good, but I was just thinking. If I do something that is similar to the kamie airdam, then I also need to have a cutout for the rad. It needs atleast some air, and I figure that the best place for that would be right in the middle. I was jsut playing gran tourismo 4, and the car i'm racing with right now is the GT40 (04 body style) and I noticed something that it has, along with the ferrari enzo, and I think even the mclaren F1 all have, and thats a gaping hole in the front, with an outlet in the hood, alowing the air to literally travel IN the car, and exiting out of the hood. Suddenly i picture a kamie airdam with 3 gapes in it, one in the middle for the rad, and 2 on the side, exiting through the roof of the trunk lid. The car is already in a cut-up state, i'll toy with the idea tomorow at the shop (Cept the damn gas tank is in the way.

[bobgsinsung]

Done a bit of research on aerodynamics and spoke to a freind who is versed in aero engineering. Heres what my conclusion is.

The air travelling under the car is of less importance than the air travelling over the car. Aparrently the lift created is a dependant on ratio of air over both top and underneath.

The airstream running over the top of the bug is uninterrupted right through to the rear valance. Creating LOW pressure at the rear and therefore high amounts of lift on the rear axle.

So the airstream needs to be interrupted somehow. Some kind of spoiler continuous with the bodywork (so no air can travel around or underneath)at the rear. Like a spoilerlip on the audi tt but above the rear window.

And air needs to travel faster under the car to help neutralise the low pressure at the rear. Flat belly pans/undertrays to smooth underneath and sideskirts as low as possible to maintain air travel direction.