How much difference does a front airdam make on a race car?
 

I see half of the first gen. guys at the track (road racing) have airdams, half do not. How much of a difference does it make on first gens?

Huge for cooling. I've run with and without and the temp difference was about 20 degrees. Just ensure you do a good job of ducting to your brakes. The first time I had my air dam on it was blocking the air scoops I had on the brakes. Even with Hawk Blue pads they started to go away pretty quick.

-Trent

I'll 2nd that for 2nd gens. The benefit is being able to put more air across the radiator and oil cooler(s).

So it doesn't make too much difference for lap times by cutting air from under the car?

Which car do you see win first place most often? Is the winner a car with an air dam or without?

I don't run IT, I race GT, and you never see a GT car without an air dam. It is next to impossible to make front downforce without an air dam, and with proper ducting you can make your engine run cooler, and with proper bract ducts you get much improved brake cooling too.

I have a first gen and it has a front airdam on it. The previous owner (Bob Neal) installed the airdam for cooling reasons, and also because the thought it looked good. It definately helps with cooling... but for lap times, we aren't really sure. It increases drag coefficient, but it helps push down the front. On those cars though, since they are very tail happy, we aren't sure if thats a good idea to put it on. Some people like it, some dont... ultimately, whoever is the best driver in our class is going to win either way... so who knows.

cooling efficiency....more or less that's about it. It does help with areodynamics a bit too.

Isint this kinda too generic a question? wouldnt the design mean alot on how functional it is downforce wise, drag wise and cooling enhancement wise?

Aerodynamics is a very complicated and non-linear science. I have some cool links to tech articles about LeMans protoypes at my work computer, I'll post them here tomorrow.

Cooling, however - more is better.

aero site: http://www.mulsannescorner.com

M.

Racecar Aerodynamics is one of the best aero/tech books, evAr. Even has some RX-7 info in it (spec. 2nd & 3rd gens).

I can't say much for the exact difference in performance, but the cooling difference is pretty insane. The owner of the car said it felt more stable going into T1 at TWS, which is exactly what I would suspect since the cars tend to produce lift at high speeds. The unit in question is from the folks in Florida, I'll remember their name later....

Maybe this one http://www.iscracing.net/body_kit.htm

ISC has great prices on EP stuff and that air dam is IT legal as well. Does it work it Spec7 as well?

the airdam definitly helps FWD cars get more traction on the drive wheels when corning. RWD is less substantial but it is still a good asset when properly designed.

ISC! That's it!

No, we can't use airdams in Spec7. The car I put one on is the silver #29 ITA car.

That's it - thanks.