Wing Versus Spoiler

[f1ea]

Who gives a rat's arse about what NASTYCAR says or does! Do they have the infrastructure such as highly sophisticated wind tunnels and computers and do they have the superior expertise that F1 personnel demonstrate on a daily basis?

hehe
its probably a bet. If IceMan loses and NASCAR spoilers do have more downforce than F1 wings... he'll have to wear NASCAR stuff on his avatar and sig that's worse off than Bud's!!

[scotty]

They're basically the same thing...

Kinda i guess, i've always thought of it like this. A spoiler is generally of lower profile and more fitting with the exterior bodywork, such as a 'lip' spoiler or 'low-height' spoiler. You can also get a spoiler for the front of a car.

A wing is generally more functional and bigger, as in the picture you posted. They are often attached to a car with 'struts' as well, not an integral part of the bodywork.

I know what you mean cause i usually use the terms in the same way to distinguish between the two. Argh, i could expain why i think there's not any real difference but it'd be long winded and boring.
n.b. 'front spoilers' = splitters...?

Either way, this argument is simple - F1 wings are much, much more effective than the spoilers on NASCARS... they have to be. The key word is effective though.

You could make a spoiler/wing that creates loads of downforce, yeah, but is it effective? When i saw some nascars up close they seemed to run angles of ~60 degrees! Also they are travelling constantly at up to 210mph and cars automatically generate more downforce at higher speeds so i guess you could make that claim if you ignore a lot of important (and obvious) variables.

[Fred_C_Dobbs]

1. What car, introduced into NASCAR in 1970, was so fast, it was banned?

2. Did that car have a spoiler or a wing?

[bud]

1. What car, introduced into NASCAR in 1970, was so fast, it was banned?

2. Did that car have a spoiler or a wing?

[texasmr2]

1. What car, introduced into NASCAR in 1970, was so fast, it was banned?

The Dodge 'Superbird'.

1970superbird.jpg

2. Did that car have a spoiler or a wing?

A wing because birds are meant to have wings not spoilers .

[myownalias]

The Plymouth Superbird; didn't have a wing or spoiler; they were bridge supports; designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel...

[f1ea]

That's a wing. An "early" design aka primitive wing. But it looks and works like a wing. And they named the car a bird... so, gotta be a wing.

[texasmr2]

That's a wing. An "early" design aka primitive wing. But it looks and works like a wing. And they named the car a bird... so, gotta be a wing.

[madbrad]

A roadrunner is a bird, a Superbird is a bird, but a Charger Daytona is not a bird. So the statement that it must be a wing because it's a bird is only half right.

[f1ea]

A roadrunner is a bird, a Superbird is a bird, but a Charger Daytona is not a bird. So the statement that it must be a wing because it's a bird is only half right.

or a joke

[bud]

isnt the road runner a flightless bird?

[madbrad]

isnt the road runner a flightless bird?

Flight doesn't come into the equation. It does have wings.

[madbrad]

A roadrunner is a bird, a Superbird is a bird, but a Charger Daytona is not a bird. So the statement that it must be a wing because it's a bird is only half right.

or a joke

Do you seriously think that I thought Chrysler used a wing instead of a spoiler because it's a bird name?
If I made a car that went around giving away the endings of movies I would have to put a spoiler on it.

[Fred_C_Dobbs]

If a spoiler provides more force (up or down) than a wing, why do aeroplanes bother with the latter?

[Hammer278]

I haven't read through the entire thread but I had the impression that the rear wing (spoiler) actually accounts for quite a significant level of downforce?

The reason for teams to give 80% of their attention to the front wing is because it is at the 'start' of the car. The rear wing is the 'end'. The front wing is the point which influences the airflow over the entire car. Thus, most time is spent on the front wing to get this right and there is a lot more detail in regards to not only producing the necessary downforce, but also in regards to the airflow over the monocoque, airflow into the brake cooling inlets, tyres, and airflow through to the sidepods for cooling. This is why the front wing has a 'spoon' shape whereas the rear has just a flat basic plate, which is where the airflow ends and 'leaves' the working area of the car's design.