Quote:
Originally Posted by roastbeef
i'm liking this discussion about "reducing lift vs. adding downforce." i had never though about the two before as not being the same thing. there was some talk in another thread about reducing lift in the rear through a pretty hefty diffuser that extended way under the car. i simply hadn't thought of reducing lift in the front until the discussion in this thread.
one experience i can possibly relate, is losing my front center belly pan at the track last weekend. it was in rough shape, as well as the corners. the air pressure entering between the lip and the bumper was enough to blow the worn bottoms off my side felt pieces. shortly after that, the center belly pan got completely ripped out from under my car. i didn't go off, and i didn't hit anything- this was 100% the belly pan being tired, and air pressure.
that being said, i came around turn 8 at big willow with guns blazing and immediately knew something was different with the car. it sort of felt like fluttering. i pulled into the hot pit and hopped out to check my tires for something obvious... nothing. eyeballed my brakes real quick... nothing obvious. shrugged my shoulders and went back out for a few more laps. i sort of attributed it to an unbalanced wheel/tire, or maybe a big wad of rubber inside one of the barrels of the wheels. it wasn't until a few sessions later when my brake pads were finished and i swapped them out that i discovered the entire front belly pan was gone. there was some crap on the track at the bottom of the hill of turn 6, but i didn't quite recognize it as mine. lol thinking back, it was probably my belly pan. i've always thought of it to be an aero piece (it is shaped like an air foil and plays a role in cooling), however, i just didn't realize how it would feel without it.
if something like the undertray could cause a noticeable effect, i'm optimistic that these vents can help as well.
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Good post.
What did you replace the under panels with? OEM or one of the metal units out now?
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