Hello

I would like to hear from the Z51 owners who have installed splitter/air dam.

The PDI sheet specifically states "DO NOT install a center air dam on vehicles with Z52 RPO"

I am not planning on tracking the car.

So for those of you that have installed one any adverse effects?

Thanks!

 

stock bolts slammed...splitter scrapes

 

^^ knew that was coming

 

Take off the dams, leave them off, it's been written here many times and said also by GM that the dams create better handling ABOVE 150 mph.......

 

 

The splitter(like what is found on the Z06) that is mounted under the chin of the car is not the air dam referenced in the PDI.

The three piece air dam is there to improve aerodynamics and improve fuel economy. On the Z51 and the Z06, the center section of the three piece air dam is not used as it blocks air from getting to the air deflectors that are mounted on the lower control arms. The air deflectors are there to direct air to the front brakes on the Z51 and Z06.

Whether you have a chin splitter installed or not, you should not have the center air dam installed on your Z51, but should leave the two outboard air dam pieces installed as they deflect air around the front tires, helping the aerodynamics of the car.

 

Air needs to get to the air deflectors on the lower suspension arms that direct air to the brakes on the Z51.
There is also a rear deflector that cools the differential and ducts for the rear brakes that are underneath the car.

 

^^^^^
Well Said.

I think people voted for my car in the car show because it had a cool splitter!

That's why I won 1st Place!

 

I just installed my C7Carbon splitter and skirts last week, and was able to reinstall the two outboard dams over the splitter just fine.

As mentioned, the Z51 does not have the center dam.

 

Just posted my opinion on a similar thread. We're all entitled to an opinion, this is mine including some facts!

Many folks have removed the air dam because they don’t like the way they look! However knowing what they do may help with the decision and not having to sound like the fox and the sour grapes!
Air Dams reduce the percentage of air that goes under the car that has many components such as suspension, transmission etc that cause turbulence and drag. That reduces air drag. Quoting GM, “The Chevy Volt has an air dam that sits as low as the Corvette to extend the all battery range at highway speeds.” The volt is not a race car or does it travel at Vette speeds!
Spillters are effective at high speeds, the air traveling above the splitter will hit a vertical surface and become turbulent. This turbulent air is moving slow, creating a high pressure area. That increases downforce on the front end.
At high speeds air dams can also have an effect on handling. GM spent a great deal of time and money in wind tunnels and when you’re adding a combo, who knows! However at normal highway speeds doubt the Splitter has much effect where the Air Dam does. The lead GM aerodynamicist John Bednarchik was quoted in an article about the 2014 C7 “ … Bednarchik points out that while shapes for improving fuel efficiency typically begin to have an effect at highway speeds, lift and drag components become critical from 150 mph to maximum velocity.”
Your choice but I kept my side air dams mainly since they provide an indicator the next thing to scrape will be the aluminum skid pads! The noise they create scraping is much worse than the sound of the rubber air dams that are designed to bend. Heard that sound several times with my C6! Fortunately they were just scraped and dented and did not break! The side dams still push air around the tires and provide some reduced drag while not adding excess downforce.
Been lots of speculation and comments about why is the “full air dam” on the base car and not the Z51. It was reported that the Z51 was supposed to have the center air dam and was removed at the last minute due to road testing. A recent video by Tadge Juechter about the Z06, I believe provides the key clue! It reinforces comments made by the GM chief aerodynamicist John Bednarchick in a January 2014 article but makes his comment clear, Bednarchick just said removing it provided better handling.
Tadge said at 150 mph the extra downforce provided by the center section made the car have a tendency to oversteer. He said it’s better to have slight understeer at high speeds! The comments about "It was removed to cool the rear brakes," (which may be helped) IMO were marketing speak since they did not want to say the car was safer with it removed!
I added CF Side Skirts to stop debris from marking the rocker panels and the CF Splitter to match the Side Skirts and the OEM Visible CF roof. I don't track the car and doubt neither have any downforce benefits nor is any needed at the speeds I travel.

 

The C6 Z06 and ZR1 is very stable at speeds of 198 and 205 respectively, and they both had the full width air dam. What the C6 Z06/ZR1 don't have are air deflectors mounted on the lower control arms that need air in order to cool the brakes.

The base Stingray without Z51 is capable of just as high of speeds(over 150) as the Z51 equipped Stingray, but doesn't need the center air dam removed to prevent "bad" handling. In fact the base Stingray has a higher top speed than the Z06, and GM isn't concerned about "bad" handling from having a full width air dam causing people to wreck their base Stingray at speeds well over 150. If "handling" at high speed was so important, than why did GM install the center air dam on cars that are capable of higher speeds than the Z51 and Z06?

 

Perhaps they realize that the aerodynamics of the C6 have nothing much to do with the aerodynamics of the C7, other than both being two models produced at Bowling Green. (I'm assuming the cars you refer to exceeding Z51 and Z06 speeds are C6 Z06s and ZR1s. The C7 Z06 is faster than either the base or Z51 optioned Stingrays, until you put the track aero on it.)

My current work ride, the Boeing B767 has two ailerons on each wing, while the previous B757 only has one. They are both Boeing airplanes, have a common type-rating, and both can fly faster than .80 Mach (80% of the speed of sound,) so shouldn't all the same rules apply? Because aerodynamics is as much an art as a science. Computer modeling only goes so far, and then testing in a wind tunnel, as well as on track or in air, is required.

 

Thank you for all the info!
Just finished installing the splitter. Used the scrivets as others have done, piece of cake.
I left the side dams on for now.

 

Installed the z06 stage 1 (poverty) splitter on my 16 z51 two weeks ago. No issues and i put the deflectors in front of the tires back on. It still has better clearence than my c6. I havent scrapped once and i tore up the front of my c6 just from my driveway.

 

In my last sentence, I was referring to the base C7 Stingray vs the C77 Z51 and Z06. The base Stingray is plenty capable of speeds of over 150 MPH therefore it would also be subject to the same conditions that cause understeer or oversteer on the Z51 and the Z06.

Some adjustments that can be made to change understeer/oversteer.


http://execstudio.com/tech_suspensio...understeer.htm

In the case of the C7 Z51 and the Z06 some of those items mentioned in the link above were done on the Z51 and Z06, thus is not necessary to throw the center air dam into the mix.

There is but one way to get the required air to the air deflectors to cool the brakes though, and that is to remove the center air dam on the Z51 and the Z06.

GM made revisions in the sway bars, shocks, spring rates, alignment etc on the C7 Z51 and the Z06 that alter understeer/oversteer, thus it was not necessary to remove the center air dam to alter the oversteer/understeer of the C7 Z51 and the Z06.

My point in pointing out that GM did not remove the center air dam on the C6 Z51/GS/Z06/ZR1, was that it wasn't necessary as GM also changed spring rates, alignment settings, shocks, etc to change the understeer/oversteer on the Z51/GS/Z06/ZR1 models. GM did not have air deflectors on the lower control arms on the C6 Z51/GS/Z06/ZR1, thus there was no need to remove the center section of the air dam. .


In fact, my Mercedes daily driver has the factory tire pressures set at 28 psi(cold) on the front and 32 psi(cold) on the rear to change the understeer/oversteer characteristics of the car, instead of just setting them at 30 psi(cold) all the way around. That's the way they fine tuned the car's handling.
They didn't mess with the car's aerodynamics to fine tune the handling.