heres a pic of an open "grille" , closed light pockets
and no bottom airdam
http://images.cardomain.com/member_i...54_21_full.jpg

 

Trevor, there are plenty of roadracers who'd be interested in what you're doing. We don't give a damn about looks, if it drops our laptimes we'll bolt it to our cars.

http://mtfba.org/rrforum/index.php?act=ST&f=5&t=178&

Show us what you've got.

 

actually..my car has never seen a road coarse and rarely sees the drag strip...i enjoy going to car shows and whatnot more than anything..albeit when the 383 is done, I'll be hitting the track
Thing is about what I've been working on is that it's all very professional in appearance and nothing looks hacked or out of place. because like i said , i do a lot of car shows. whether this stuff will actually do much remains to be seen but I'm just excersizing the crazy ideas i've had in my head about what can be done and what HASN'T been done. I want to be different and if it has some genuinely positive effects on handling through the curvies, then fantastic!

 

My few thoughts
It's not really "advanced aerodynamics" until you demonstrate improvement. (Not a flame)
The airdam certainly contributes drag, but if you remove it and imnplement a different airflow scheme to the radiator is it necessarily an aerodynamic improvement? The shape of the air inlet to the radiator looks pretty well thought out to me.
The possibilities of reducing drag on the underside of the car is something I have not seen addressed much here. That seems like it could be worthwhile if it can be done without excessive cost since according to your engineer's calculations we are talking about how much we can get back of a 2 or 3 % power loss at 100 mph. That's like picking up roughly 10 hp so the cost needs to reflect what the actual benefit is...
Sealing off airflow into the rear bumper cover and headlight areas makes lots of sense, what other areas are there that would benefit from similar treatment?
I'll be looking for those pics!

 

Anti-Blinging..thanx for your negative thoughts. You obviously didn't read what i have written or you didn't quite understand what it is that I'm actually doing. Like I said, I've researched and coalated with our engineer. I am well aware of the concepts of drag, downforce, lift and the like. I build IRL and CART bodies on a daily basis so I understand aerodynamics and the overall effects...both negative and positive. My whole goal with the front end modifications I've done is to get rid of the stupid air damn so I'm not scraping it and so that it's not causing underbody drag. There is now more than enough air flow coming through my front bumper to cool the radiator. I'm not some idiot that doesn't know what he's doing. Think about this: most supercars (Enzo, Carrera GT, Mazerati M12, etc) rely on air coming through the body to cool it's internals as opposed to a point of low pressure to suck the air up like f-bodies. I'm not trying to re-engineer my car...I'm just trying something new...so skepticism is to be expected...But for those of you that thoroughly understand what I'm doing here, or those that pay the cynics no mind, then you can appreciate this. If you want think I'm an uninformed ignorant hack, then you are entitled to your opinion and that is fine.
But either way...I will get pictures as soon as i can and keep you up to date on my developments.

 

oh and nowhere in my post did i say anything about lowering my rear end...my whole car has been lowered 2".

 

injumanear? gawd..what a funny guy.

I wasn't claiming to be an expert, an engineer or or anything else other than what I am. but I'm not an assembly line worker either. There are maybe 40 people (at best)on the planet doing the kind of composites work I'm doing. If it was an idiots job, then multi-million dollar race teams wouldn't be bringing their cars to us for work. I haven't SEEN my share of work done on fast cars...I've DONE my share of work on fast cars. albeit no street cars, but straight up race cars. Arguing with you is senseless...I made this thread to tell you guys what i was trying out, not to start a war.

I'm certainly not going to pull any sort of "told you so" act either. I just wanted educated responses to what I am doing...and even if my work on my Z does nothing at all other than look kool, then I am satisfied. But I know for a fact that there at least won't be any Negative effects because I'm not doing anything quite THAT radical..
again..I will post pics when i can

 

First give notice to how aerodynamically sound the Camaro is.

The rear wing is higly affective at high speeds. The design is that similar to an aiplane wing, just flipped upside down. That is the reason for the curvature of the bottom of the wing.

The front air dam is only there to assist in getting air to the radiator. The front of the nose is curved similar to the rear wing. This creates a low pressure area that not only pulls the nose of the car down, but also pull up air to fill in that cavity.

I've been doing aero on race cars for a looong time now. The camaro is one of the best designed I've ever seen for the price. High speeds, above 120, are surprisingly comfortable compared to may other automobiles on the road today.

-Shannon

 

Very interesting.I have put some thought into what your doing also. Only dont know as much as yourself or have the resources and talent available as you do.Keep it up lots will be interested in it!I will join the concensus that wants to see some eye candy.

good luck in your endevours

 

anti-blinging: Play nice with others.


I have been modding Hondas and have to work pretty hard to increase the effectivess of aerodynamics on the car. First, problems with Civics are they are not designed for high performace, many of people modifying them are not making "race" cars, and the vast majority of aerodynamic products are not tested but merely designed for looks. (sorry, run on sentence)

The Camaro however is greatly designed to begin with but it does have room for improvement. Already mentioned here is the rear bumper. Like hondas and everyother car the rear bumper is a parachute when driving at speeds down the road. I am not talking about only 100+ but actually 50-60 would show an impact. You will see many cars with holes cut in the rear bumper. This is to allow the air to exit the bumper isntead of causing excess drag. A cover that would attach the backside/underneath of the rear bumper that would allow air to smoothly bypass it would be great! A rear diffuser much like the ones found on rx-7s or supras would be a great addition.

The front bumper and underneath "spoiler" that directs air up to the radiator has alot to be desired. ZR28Racing I think is on the right track. IF you allow air to travel straight to the radiator and air intake through the "mouth" of the front bumper and elimate the high drag components the car would definately benefit.

The rear spoiler could be improved as well if the application fit the needs of the car. Unless the car is being enetered in competitive racing series I doubt the addition of a different spoiler would add any beneficial impact. With that being said, a higher spoiler would add greater downforce and if properly balanced with the rest of the car it could not only increase traction to the rear tires but also increase turning speeds and stability.

These things are nothing new to racing circuits or for those who have been modifying cars. I am sure with the right equipment and knowledgeable people you could improve on many aspects of the already good earodynamics of the Camaro. Main point to remember is what you are using the car for; drag racing, curcuit, or street? -- or combination?

ZR28Racing: I would be highly interested in what you have done with the front bumper as well as the desing of the rear.