Anyone that has the rear spoiler, have you noticed any affect on handling?

 

So far, it seems to hold the rear down up to 130.

 

Nawh, it's purely cosmetic...

However, the spoiler is great for opening/closing the trunk without leaving smudges on the car and collecting road dust on the rear bumper.

 

Most all spoilers are cosmetic until you reach serious speeds (150+) for reducing lift.

Well they help drag on some cars which in turn helps fuel economy.

 

I customized my spoiler, when I push my car..ummmm...to say about 180-190mph, the spoiler actually raises "aerodynamic stability enhancement" So yes, with some slight modification, it is functional.

 

yah it really works..but it only works at high speed as the air current is strong and push the rear end down..so it is more stable...but it is going to be slower than those cls without rear spoiler....

 

I'm pretty sure it's physically impossible to REDUCE drag by putting more surface area into the wind.

 

I close my trunk by grabbing the indentation that houses the emergency release on the inside of the trunk door and close it via that. No touching anything on the outside. Works great especially with the spoiler to help weigh it down a little.

 

Is it possible to have this many sarcastic replies in one thread?

 

That's what I do, i grab it by the latch thingy. My friends think I'm crazy and obsessive, but no smudgie on my trunkie!

 

I even trained my wife to close the trunck by the emergency latch!!!

 

Good Wifey

 

While it is theoretically impossible, I believe there is a documented case of over 27 sarcastic replies to a single post back in the late eighties. Of course, this was on a BBS accessed at 300 baud so it took A LOT of work back then.

 

on a front wheel drive car, purely aesthetics

 

That's a keeper, dude!

 

this is not always true. the audi tt body shape, without spoiler, generates rear-end lift at higher speeds whether fwd or awd.

consequently, after a few tt's were crashed, audi made the decision to add a spoiler to every tt sold (fwd or awd) to disrupt laminar air flow off the rear window and reduce this tendency to lift at high speed.

 

those add-on deflectors that truck drivers put on top of their cabs? those reduce the drag that the trailer sees.

Synth19...
how did u mod ur spoiler?

 

Yea I remember reading that about the TT, yea but that happened in Germany , and it was only when the car hit above 155 mph. Audi recalled all the cars, changed the rear suspension and added a rear spoiler to all af them. Lousy way to find out if you need a rear spoiler or not.

 

Yeah because if they don't have it there's a BIG SQUARE BOX directly in behind it that would get the airflow instead of the smoother curve of the deflector.

 

no emergency latch on the earliar batch of cl-s's we had them near the rear pass through

 

I didnt...I was being sarcastic.

 

Not true, and a wing spoiler can somtimes reduce the coefficent of drag. The main thing is air flow and not surface area.

A more compelling example is the front air dam, which greatly increases the surface area directly exposed to air flow. Without the an air dam, the air flows underneath the car, where all of the things that stick out cause turbulence and increase both lift and drag. The air dam directs more air flow around the sides of the car, reducing both.

A wing's main purpose is to generate down force, and the addition to drag is minimal, but I believe that in non-fastback cars, it's possible to get a slight improvement in drag due to reduced turbulence resulting from the redirected air flow.

I wish Acura said something about drag on their website, but I read a G35 review in last week's Sunday paper that mentioned the drag and with the addition of the rear spoiler. I did a web search and found the same info: "The G35 has an exceptional coefficient of drag measurement of just 0.27 (0.26 with optional rear spoiler)".

 

A rear spoiler on a front wheel drive car is just retarded.

Why would you want to have more downforce over the rear wheels on a front driver? More downforce on the rear will only be offset by lifting weight off the front wheels (which in the case of the CL are the DRIVE wheels!)

You rear spoiler is for looks, and I think it looks better without the spoiler anyway, so I guess the rear spoiler is for NOTHING!

 

Remember this old thread?

http://www.acura-cl.com/forums/showt...threadid=41646

 

one more thing..the rear spoiler for the street cars,has more visual effect than its real purpose...
as u can seen on the tv..those race cars' rear wind can be adjusted at any time and any angle to be most funtional and effective due to the wind speed and weather and temp...so.
and i personally think cls looks better with a rear spoiler on..that is why i am thinking of getting one.. anyone offer a good price?

 

It serves a purpose..........Its an extra $660 to make your CL look a little better. Although, I wouldn't mind a factory body kit

 

So that would mean adding a little surface area in one place reduces a LOT of surface area in another - so it still goes in line with what I said - you can't improve drag by ADDING surface area.

In your example you end up with NEGATIVE surface area, so of COURSE it's going to be better drag.

A wing stuck on the trunk of the car isn't removing all that underbody drag.

 

damn this defective sense of humor i was issued....must've been from that "bad batch".

 

I put on white gloves and a condom to close my trunk. No smudgies on my wee-wee

 

Great research guys! I just like the way it looks. and i always use the trunk release to close my trunk too.

 

but after driving my car for about a year with just a drop, i added the oem body kit and the mugen spoiler and the car became more steady at speed 80+ ... it was a very noticeable difference

 

I like the spoiler, it doesn't do a damn thing, but it looks so much better with it than without it. One thing though...I have a factory spoiler...why the fuck didn't Acura REMOVE THE HIGH BRAKE LIGHT IN THE REAR DECK for CL's with factory installed spoilers? It looks so ridiculous with the LED's in the spoiler and the big honkin' light in the rear window too!!!

 

the spoiler is not factory installed. the dealer installs them. it's cheaper that way. the option is make two different rear decks - one with a 3rd brake light and one w/o. or they could sacrifice styling altogether and just make a single rear deck with a 3rd brake light that looks like some kinda pep boys special add-on.

 

They should have made a flat rear deck then. I mean come on....it looks so stupid like that. I assumed the spoilers were factory only because my 2 GSR's were factory...but then I remembered that spoiler was std. equip. for the GSR.

 

1. spoilers generate drag, not downforce. the purpose of a functional spoiler on a car is much the same as that on an airplane: a reduction of efficiency in the lifting body via a disruption of laminar flow (i.e., creating drag).

2. downforce can be generated via a "wing" (an inverted airfoil) mounted via structural members directly to (ideally) the rear suspension or (less ideally) to the rear frame of the car. the suspension of the car must be set up to accomodate the additional "weight" of the downforce at speed, so the suspension will generally have to be firmer than most folks comfort levels at all speeds. most production cars, whether front, rear or all wheel drive simply do not have either a properly designed wing, or the appropriate means to transfer the downforce to the suspension (and last I checked, trunklids aren't considered structural members in the frame).

based on the above distinctions, unless your car bears a striking resemblance to an airfoil in cross-section and mr. bernoulli's effect is ruining your day on the autobahn, or you regularly find yourself tailgated by a schumacher, ernhardt, or gentilozzi in rush hour traffic, the appendage on your decklid (whether intended to be a spoiler or other aerodynamic aid) is superfluous no matter which set(s) of wheels are being driven.

as far as appearance, looks are subjective (although I prefer my cars without such decklid adornments).

 

tankmonkey,

Call it whatever you want (spoiler, wing, whatever), but the little thing bolted to the trunklid of the CL definitely is cosmetic.

I'll agree that it does create drag..... that's a no-brainer.

But do you really think that rear wings don't create downforce? You'd be totally wrong.

Read this quote from a Porsche 911 Turbo test:



Anyway, it is stupid to argue about this because the CL spoiler is totally cosmetic, but the fact remains that proper rear spoilers can and do create downforce at high speeds.

 

You've got to be kidding!?!?!?!

 

if I recall correctly (and I do) I said: "most production cars, whether front, rear or all wheel drive simply do not have either a properly designed wing, or the appropriate means to transfer the downforce to the suspension (and last I checked, trunklids aren't considered structural members in the frame)."

1. which part of "most production cars" leads you to believe I meant to exclude all rear wings from the "creating downforce" category? I would think that my use of the word most implies that there are indeed some production vehicles so designed. (the dodge daytona and plymouth superbird of the late 60's/early 70's spring to mind...)

2. do you regard a whopping 20 lbs of downforce at 189 mph (!) as a significant or otherwise meaningful amount, especially in the context of a "useless appendage" argument? hell, I wouldn't be surprised if the margin of error inherent in testing for downforce is around 20 lbs. I also wouldn't be surprised if the spoiler on the 189 mph porsche 911 weighed 20 lbs on its own. that would seem to support the argument that all wings on production cars, including the 911's, are all but useless as a downforce generating device (which I don't necessarily beleive, and I doubt was your intent). I think the fact that the 911 isn't experiencing 200 lbs of lift at 189 mph is more of a testament to the value of having a spoiler on such an airfoil-shaped car.

3. I'm not arguing whether the cl spoiler is purely cosmetic or not (I simply don't care). my original point was this: for a vehicle design with high speed lift issues, a spoiler on the decklid can be enough disrupt the airflow enough over the rear of the vehicle, reducing lift and resulting in a safer vehicle for consumers. further, it doesn't matter whether said vehicle is fwd, rwd or awd, a loss of rear traction at speed due to lift can lead to loss of control of the vehicle. since a spoiler can correct the lifting problems irrespective of which wheels are driven, this may be a valid reason for the addition of a spoiler to certain fwd cars. I am absolutely not saying that a majority of fwd cars need them (or even a significant number), I'm just pointing out the possibility.

4. I addressed the downforce issue solely because you seem to be having some difficulty keeping the concepts of "downforce" and "lift reduction" straight in your head, in addition to displaying a deplorable lack of familiarity with the terminology involved. I would think you'd want a better handle on the issues involved before hauling off and making blanket statements such as "A rear spoiler on a front wheel drive car is just retarded."

 

 

I don't know you at all Tom2, but I have to say that a high percentage of your posts make you come off as an annoying know-it-all...this last post is one of those. Everyone has a right to their own opinion, and I think the CL WITHOUT a spoiler looks "retarded".

I think it's about time someone said something about your tone...personally, it really gets on my nerves.