Thread: Active Aero

Guys, remember the wind tunnel tests of a 2nd gen 3000GT VR4 with Active Aero a board member did way back?

Well, I was trolling around evolutionm.net and found out a magazine tested an euro spec EVO and a STI on the wind tunnel. Compared to the results of the 2nd gen VR4, I found it very interesting and decided to combine these.

Both the VR4 and EVO/STI wind tunnel tests were done at the same airflow speed. SO THE RESULTS FROM BOTH TESTS ARE COMPARABLE!


Before posting the results, here are some testing pics:

Airflow over EVO front end:


Airflow over STI front end:


not the same, but Airflow under 2nd gen VR4:




Airflow around EVO rear wing:


Airflow around STI rear wing:


Airflow around VR4 rear wing, Active Aero OFF:


Airflow around VR4 rear wing, Active Aero ON:




and, here are the results :

EVO/STI numbers:

Red arrows represent lift/downforce at air flow of 144km/h
Blue arrows represent lift/downforce at air flow of 200km/h


So, both cars have HUGE amount of front lift at 200km/h, and EVO has small amount of lift on the back as well while the STI has good amount of downforce on the back.











Before you compare the results to the VR4's...
THE COLORS HAVE NO CORRELATION BETWEEN THESE PICS. COMPARED THE RED ARROWS OF THE EVO/STI PIC TO THE VR4 PIC LABELED 144KM/H, AND THE BLUE ARROWS OF THE EVO/STI PIC TO THE VR4 PIC LABELED 200KM/H.












Compared the numbers to the VR4's:
The left cars are with Active Aero OFF. The cars in the right are with Active Aero ON.



With the AA ON at 200km/h, the VR4 has 4 times less front end lift than an EVO, and almost 5 times less than that of a STI!

On the back, the VR4 has SAME amount of force it had on the front end, downwards. (Downforce). EVO still has LIFT on the back, and the STI has huge amount of downforce on the back. (Over 3 times of that of a VR4). But what would you rather be driving at 125mph, a car with HUGE amount of LIFT on the front while having HUGE amount of DOWNFORCE on the back, or a car that is statically stable by having zero lift?


Notice how our cars still have only half the amount of lift EVO/STI has on the front end with AA OFF (That rearend lift does look scary though )




My Conclusions:

1. Active Aero is not a gimmick. PERIOD.
2. There is a reason our cars don't resemble econoboxes


Plus, it hurts to think that my 97 VR4 with hoop spoiler and no AA is probably the least aero-friendly model of the 3s family


By the way, the numbers are in newtons. (1N = 0.22lbs). Plus. these pictures are NOT MINE. I only combined and interpreted the results in my own ways.


^----just copy pasted it, i take nothing for this post, other than its freaking BADASS! =]

-dLs-

Find the specs for the 1g stealth. Its the most aerodynamic of all 3s's.

Originally Posted by David

Find the specs for the 1g stealth. Its the most aerodynamic of all 3s's.

for wind tunnel testing i'd have better luck finding a pot of gold at the end of a rainbow...

-dLs-

holy repost batman! =P its been a long time since i saw it though so i guess its ok.

I can vouch for the downforce. I lost traction in my rear end one time because I forgot to have my AA on at a turn that I do every day. One day without the AA on and I nearly ran into a fence. Granted I always take the turn at a high speed, but never had I ever lost control on it until that day. But yes, this is an old topic.

It is an old topic on 3si but not everyone has time or wants to troll 3si for this stuff.

-dLs-

good info. looks like the sti's upper window deflector made a big difference (shifting the airflow higher so it goes over the spoiler).

i wonder how well the combat wing on downforce

Its not a bad thing to find old posts that are useful. This find is decent...but if you want to impress me with your trolling Darwin...find me a place where I can take my 96 Stealth with the newer version Stealth wing and physically get it tested for myself. I would actually go do it if it were possible.

its ok to post some old topics some of us havent seen them yet.... cough cough me. i had no idea, i mean i figured it did something but had no idea it was that affective. good to know.

I was checking the numbers and doing some of my own digging in the stealths realm of being aerodynamic but it looses to the 3000GT's AA system for the front end lift first. The second problem is the position of the banana is TOO close to the rear window to catch alot of the air flow. Even with the 1996 lip (that does catch that stream) the downforce from the roof doesnt hit it enough to make the car more areodynamic and the 91-96 3000GT's.

-dLs-

I KNEW IT!...

Originally Posted by -dLs-

I was checking the numbers and doing some of my own digging in the stealths realm of being aerodynamic but it looses to the 3000GT's AA system for the front end lift first. The second problem is the position of the banana is TOO close to the rear window to catch alot of the air flow. Even with the 1996 lip (that does catch that stream) the downforce from the roof doesnt hit it enough to make the car more areodynamic and the 91-96 3000GT's.

-dLs-

im quoting this for ryan... read it and weap

Originally Posted by -dLs-

I was checking the numbers and doing some of my own digging in the stealths realm of being aerodynamic but it looses to the 3000GT's AA system for the front end lift first. The second problem is the position of the banana is TOO close to the rear window to catch alot of the air flow. Even with the 1996 lip (that does catch that stream) the downforce from the roof doesnt hit it enough to make the car more areodynamic and the 91-96 3000GT's.

-dLs-

I will quote this also, and I will say that there is nothing there of any substance at all. Darwin is not a professional in the field of aerodynamics nor in any way a professor of any kind. So all you 3000GT fans dont get to rely on the nerd for his opinion as fact in any way. I have actually read somewhere a while ago that the Stealth was more aerodynamic that the 3000GT even with the active aero, and it was supposed to be posted straight from the mouth from one of the Mitsu designer reps of the cars in the first MOD that was held. Thats why I wanted the professional forum troll to find the facts on the downforce testing, because its been a LONG time and I wanted to see if he could find it without me having to put forth that much effort.

Thats why I posed the challenge of find the actually downforce tests of the cars. Dont spew your opinion, just throw out some facts NOOOOOOOOOOBBBBBBB!!!!!!! lol

OK, still awaiting something cool to see!

Michael

either way its really not that important to me, im happy with my AA. its just ryan is always talking shit.