Last week I had my RX up to 177 mph (on my Blitz Power Meter) and it was amazingly steady to drive at that speed. I would have thought that the car would be more difficult to drive at such speeds.
I have the stock R1 rear wing and I believe that it dosen't hurt to have one at those speeds.

 

Back in the day, Car and Driver did some tests on front and rear spoilers and radiator ducting on a 240z and a Pinto. All are effective at highway speeds. Double blind studies are great, but asking a driver what he feels is ridiculous. To test drag, just roll your car down a hill and see how far it goes with and without the spoiler.

 

holding your hand out the window creates drag. Holding your hand at the proper angle will create some downforce. So, your hand is "effective" as an aerodynamic device.

It is universally agreed that wings, appendages and other debris put on a car for street driving is just for decoration. Sure, manufacturers will state an incremental difference in coefficient of drag but it is minute and not something that any driver is going to notice.

Sure, proper ducting at the front of the car, or a front splitter designed to direct air into the radiator is "effective" but that is just proper car design.

Everyone that has fanciful notions that wings, dive planes, spoilers or whatever else you want to call them make any differernce on the street are simply attempting to sound cool to others or they are trying to justify their purchases.

With that said, in parking lots across the nation there are thousands of "wings west" and "erbruni" customers that may as well have their PhD in Aerodynamics and fluid computational theroy. You will hear amazing tales of how their wing makes the exit ramps much easier to take. You have to take it with a grain of salt.

 

Personally I'd get a '99 spec wing, just to make the car look more like a '99 Jspec model... the fact that you can adjust stuff is nice between sessions at the track, so you can play with your "Toy" while it's standing still. But it's the same reason Coilovers are really superfluous, since ride height and all those fancy adjustments don't mean a whole lot when the Nut Behind the Wheel is loose !

 

At 177 you are definitely pushing it on the street. I was playing with a Viper and ZO6 Corvette on the 134 FRW West just before the Glendale #2 FRW. in KALIFORNIA. 1:30 AM. There is an up hill section and then a down hill section. Lost the ZO6 and pulled the Viper by about 1 - ½ cart lengths. At approx. 150 - 155 I shut down because I don't trust my tires. I was having difficulty getting traction and they are old Dunlops. It was also lightly raining outside. When I backed off the gas my rear end got a bit light ( No biggie but since it was wet out and I was coming up on traffic quite fast I had to slow down. I drifted right 5 lanes before being able to slow to around 70. I was on a slow left turn at the time. Butt pucker factor definitely went up to around 8. Yes at higher speeds a 3rd Gen gets light without aerodynamics. I should not of been doing this in a light rain but my EGO got the best of me. There was no other traffic at the time but we obviously caught up to some. I don't like risking other peoples lives that is why I slowed down and did not pass the upcoming traffic even though there were 2 open lanes. The Viper went north on the Glendale and I continued west. Corvette got lost.

 

Did you have the R1 previously or the base lip?

- curious - I have the r1 lip and 99 and was thinking of going for the 99 lip to get more downforce.

The 99 spoiler makes a solid planted feeling on the tailend at 100+ no drift, nothing.

 

when I drive on the tollway my car regularly sees 100+ mph...

 

this one is sort of a branch off of the r1 type, i like it more than plain. But i prefer no spoiler over all.

 

Well, that makes you a bigger man now doesn't it.

You and the other fruit loops in this thread bragging about 100-170mph on public highways, in the rain even, are pure and prime examples of idiocy in the first degree.

I don't know the last time I strictly abided by a speed limit, but I surely don't endanger everyone within the anticipated debris field when I am in my Rx7.

I do that type of driving on a track and tend to have respect for the other users of the public highways.

Oh and before you brag about your "skills", keep in mind that people with any formal training or experience behind the wheel tend to keep things on a track where risks are managable.

 

Oh please - go to hell. the soccer mom's drive 80 on this road with minivans and cell phones. It is much different than the hillbilly's like your righteous self see in backwoods west virginia.

 

Oh, stereotypes, rationalizations and ignorance all in that one poorly constructed sentence.

You are the man.

 

yep. you're obviously sipping the moonshine tonight. you think that a mom on the cell phone driving 80 with a car load of kids is safer than a vehicle designed for performance is at 100?

one poorly constructed sentence = a west virginia school teacher??

 

Ok, you win, I am sure that your driving skills can overcome the laws of physics and you absolutely never put others, and yourself, at risk by driving 100mph on public highways. I am sorry for doubting you.

As for your comments about WV. Are you in 3rd grade or are you so intellectually bankrupt that all you can come up with are geography put downs.

How about you PM me an address and I'll send you a plane ticket to WV and you insult my home state to my face.

 

I think the topic was spoilers. PM's are better for your private matters.

The R1 lip spoiler seems to fit a little better than the 99 spec. Different bumper I guess. The spec spoiler stick into the fender well about 1/2 inch, and doesnt line up perfectly in the front. It still looks nice, just not perfect.

 

I have a base model FD. Ever hear the phrase less is more? No need to add a rice wing to your car. There are enough ignorant honda owners that do that (i have a honda civic without a wing so I can say that). I have to share....the other day I saw the most unlikely car to have a rice wing on it.....an old Lincoln Towncar....I died laughing when i saw that! Ultimately it is up to you to decide, but I vow to never put a wing on any car that I own.......unless I'm asked to be a formula one driver some day.....that would be nice, but aint gonna happen.

 

I am sorry if you thought that was bragging because it was not meant to be. It was just a warning and a showing my mistake. I don't condone what I did but the Freeway has 5 lanes, long banked curves, relatively new ( Built in the late 70s), open - meaning no traffic insight - and I slowed before coming up to traffic. The only person who would have been hurt was myself. The debris field would have been off the freeway scattered over a hillside. I don't know of any tracks that have this large a runoff. Yes, I wasn't too bright but as I said, my EGO got the best of me and it will not happen again. Yes I do have track time under my belt. Not time trials. As for being a FruitLoop, I must agree. Car people ( Racers, cruisers, car show people, ECT ) are way out there. Some more than others.

 

This has nothing to do with West Virginia or Kalifornia.. it has to do with common sense... I must admit I was lacking in that department when I did
<---------- that on a public 2 lane highway, but I also swore to myself that that picture would never happen on pubic roads again... and I was very lucky to have walked away with not even a scratch.... (A Bruised Tailbone Given but no scratches )
Everybody should look at the consequences of their actions and do this sort of testosterone gunplay on a drag strip or road course... (It's tough I know )

 

No, lower drag will make you faster, and improve fuel economy (notice the car makers have lowered drag significantly in the last 20 years). Downforce (or more importantly, less lift) will make you handle better. If you are going 100+ mph on the street (who hasn't ?) lift can be significant and dangerous.