mabryusmc

So Ive been debating on whether or not a rear wing will better assist my C6 w/ the Z51 option. Really not wanting to drill up my hatch, I have found a few complete trunk lids for a very cheap price. I figured I could swap them out and install the wing onto a new trunk lid... then replace when and as needed.

My question is, are their alternate wings out there comparable to the GTC-500? It seems like every time I start to research this option all I find is the GTC-500 and cheap-o ricer wings.

Question 2- Is mounting the wing to the trunk lid really that solid? It looks solid but then again at high speeds Im not sure how much force would be applied to the trunk lid.

Thanks in advance guys!

EDIT: I forgot to mention what I have now on the car is all ZR1 replica splitter, spoiler, sideskirts.... I would like to replace my ZR1 spoiler with something larger and more aggressive. Also, from what Ive read on here.... the ZR1 splitter alone upfront might not be enough to handle the job?

JDIllon

I and several others here in Fl. have been running he APR for 4 to 5 years. You do need to do a more aggressive front splitter to get the best results. But the wing does a great job and have had no problems with the mounting. IE: no cracking of body parts or anything like that. It does improve down force. JD

BEZ06

I was running Daytona last week with Mike www.THEPOWDERCOATER.com and he was in the garage right next to me.

Many are familiar with Mike from the work he does powdercoating calipers, wheels, or anything.

He used to track his Vette, but for several years has been running a Nissan 370.

Anyway, he was black flagged and pulled off and asked what the problem was, but the officials in pit lane didn't initially know. They called the corner worker who had thrown the flag and determined that there was a problem with the wing, but the guy in pit lane couldn't see anything, but still told mike to take it to the garage.

Mike pulled into the garage, and after investigating, found some small cracks in his APR wing. There were also some small scratched up areas on the body/top of rear fenders on both sides.

He finally figured out that at high speed the wing was deflecting and the corner worker (actually must have been observing Mike on the straights at high speed - probably well above 140 mph, because we were doing more than 160 down the straights) was concerned that it might rip off.

I'm not sure exactly how it was reacting at speed - of course it should create downforce by producing lift in a downward direction. I suspect, however, that it must have cracked, allowing it to twist and actually bow upwards in the middle, which flexed the tips outboard of the attachment brackets downward. The ends of the wing had vertical winglet end-plates, and the bottom of those are what rubbed on the top of the rear fender area.

I bet APR will be interested in seeing it and will stand behind it.

You can see below how far the ends had to flex down to hit the bodywork:




Bottom line....the wing can be tuned to give you the proper downforce necessary for slow speed turns, faster sweepers, or high speed straights. If it's set up for a lot of downforce for slower speed turns, it may be too much when you get going really fast.

So....make sure you get a quality wing, attach it strongly to the car, and adjust it correctly for the downforce you need - and maybe that will require a different angle of attack for different tracks.

Bob

Lawdogg

I've run a decklid mounted APR of one summer. Many laps with speeds over 160 mph. No issues yet.

BEZ06

I didn't really look at Mike's wing much in the garage. He quickly removed it so he could get back out on the track next session.

I didn't notice in the garage, but the more I look at the picture of his car, the more it looks like his mounting brackets may be kind of close together.

If the brackets are close together, the outboard portions of the wing extend out pretty far past the brackets, and the downforce they develop could flex them down.

So.....you've got to mount the wing properly so the downforce created is distributed across the strong part of the wing and the brackets carry that force properly into the car.

Bob

Falcon

I would imagine the brackets for mounting the wing to the uprights are set by the factory and molded into the wing, otherwise there'd be no way attaching it to the uprights.

Falcon

Every time the subject of wings and attachments come up, I think of this video:

StreetSpeed

Indeed. Mount that wing properly folks...

skxf430

For those who have mounted rear wings, how much does it affect your spring weights on your suspension? How much of an increase in spring weight did you change to?

VGLNTE1

Please do it the right way and mount it to the frame. I hate seeing 100K cars that are set up to race and have a wing bolted to the trunk.

0Anthony @ LGMotorsports

Completely agree.

There are some things on race cars that seem to be one of those "mystery items" because the effects or benefits are not measured on a dyno.

Aero parts that actually work need to do their work to the chassis of the car, not the body work. In some rare, rare cases you have to resort to mounting something to the body work but in every case there is a mount that comes up from the frame to meet the bottom side.

Wings in themselves, while you could just mount a flat piece at an angle and give yourself some downward force on the car the drag result would be huge. So the actual size, shape, and mounting location all play a key role in how the wing is going to work.


How does a wing effect weights...depends.
Depends on the overall balance of the car. Would it change how you scale the car, or corner weighting it...not at all other than the added weight of the parts themselves. What it may do, and most likely will change spring rates of the car. This you will have to play with on your own car to get the max. balance from mechanical to aero grip and front to rear balance.

yakisoba

I have mine mounted to braces which are welded to my frame. It's solid.
The wing itself was from Fulcrum Aeroworks, and is a simple, if big, straight wing. It came with a matrix of downforces, determined by speed and angle of attack relative to flat. It's carbon fiber. I picked this wing because many folks in a large racing series here use them. It's proven and reliable, and we know how much force it makes, on a wide variety of bodies. We also know how far we can push it before it fails.

I'm still working out how much angle to use, based on the new spring rates.

Aero is a serious can of worms. It generally comes after adjustable shocks and new springs, so you have loads more control over the car setup. However, more ***** to twiddle means more chances to make mistakes. It takes time to get the setup right, and picking what to change first is tricky too.

Long winded, but here's the essence:
1. Get a good, frame mounted wing.
2. Invest the time to make it work with the whole car as a package. It's not simple, so...
3. Cajole or hire who you have to to help with setup.