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Front splitter experiment for the track car


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New year, new goals for the car in the off season. As much as I like how my handling is so far with assorted mods and upgrades, I've always felt that the car feels less planted than I'd like at higher speeds, particularly anything over 100mph, (and its gotten more noticeable as I've added more power over the years). With no viable ready made option that actually produces decent downforce, I've decided to see what a diy splitter would do.

 

Any exotic material is out of the question for my budget right now so I'm opting with Alumalite, which I've seen used with good success on other cars if done right. Its fairly inexpensive, and has decent strength to weight ratio. I'm going with a 4" splitter initially and we'll see how that goes.

 

Its a unique challenge in that I really need to be able to take it off and put it back on at the track as I won't want to drive on public roads with it. If it was trailered, I'd have a lot more options for securing it to the car since it would stay on full time. After spending time under the car playing around with cardboard panels checking measurements, mounting points, and final angle of attack at the end of splitter I've mocked up a template that will be used to make the Alumalite version.

 

I ordered extra long studs from Primitive Racing last spring when I swapped in their street version skid plate thinking that I could use those studs for a good solid connection to the car that was easily removable. Now with the V.1 mock up on, I might even get by with the original studs that Primitive includes with the kit. It will essentially sit underneath the skid plate. I'll probably cut out some or all of the footprint thats doubled up to expose the skid plate in the middle (where they have vent louvers). I've found two additional points on the frame horns of the car to secure the left and right sides and these will be accessible in the engine bay for me to reach down to connect and disconnect, (I'll have to pop off the OEM air snorkel leading to my CAI on the pass side but thats an easy task). Two additional points of contact via the typical stanchions that affix from the bumper out to the splitter in the front and I should be set. I'll have to jack up the car in the paddock do the underneath attachment but that should only take a few min to do.

 

So V.1 mock up is coming along. Using thin plywood to make the template and I'm pretty happy so far with how its coming. I'm using my Bayson R lip as the template so it pretty much mimics shape of the Bayson, it just sticks out 4" now :) Still have some sanding to do and I'll probably extend the corners out farther to meet the tire line but I don't think I'll change it much from what I have here. Also will be looking at going 15mm lower on my KW's next season, I've got some height to give I think. Once I'm happy with it I'm sourcing some 6mm Alumalite in black for the finished piece. I'll probably do the top exposed area in CF vinyl once its done to style it out a bit. I'll use that black rubber internally segmented banding that you can use to finish out rough edges for the perimeter of it. Thats what I've seen used on all the other diy alumalite splitters. You just cut to size and put it on with a rubber mallet. If anyone has ideas on that let me know. Total cost looks to be under 300 bucks all in with hardware.

 

I'll add to the tread as I move farther into the project. It will be interesting to see if this helps keep the front end down!

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Edited by shralp
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  • 6 months later...

Well its been awhile waiting for the 10mm Alumalite to show up but the splitter is pretty much done, at least for now. I'm running it this weekend at ORP with the Porsche Club, most likely just in the afternoon as I want to have some sort of baseline in the morning without it.

 

Overall, pretty happy with how it turned out. The Alumalite was easy to work with for sure. Its designed to put on / take off at the track with minimal hassle, it takes about 10 min. I'm using 6 points of contact: 2 from the extended studs that I got from Primitive racing, 2 from nut-serts that are in the Primitive racing skid plate that rides above the splitter, 2 from eye hooks that mount to unique areas on each side and attach via custom made turnbuckles that I can install from the engine bay and located in areas that I can get to safely with a hot car, and finally 2 from splitter support rods. I sourced rubber banding from Trim-lok and glued that on around the perimeter, which was actually the most tedious and difficult process of the whole thing :)

 

We'll see how it goes this weekend, interested to see how it affects the handling. My hope to it keep the nose planted a bit more. Rear aero may have to follow to keep the balance right...

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Edited by shralp
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Primitive racing makes a street and a rally version of their skid plate. The rally one is thicker and a fair bit heavier to take rock abuse. The street one is lighter duty but still quite burly. I’ll do a more proper reply with more pics and specs soon
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Well, I ran a day with the Porsche Club at Oregon Raceway Park this weekend. I chose to run the splitter in the afternoon sessions and without it in the morning. Overall, pleased with the results, or lack of negative results I should say?

 

This is my first foray into aero so I really have no baseline to compare to. I can say this: it doesn't seem to affect the handling of the car negatively in terms of balance. Perhaps that's why my impressions are not totally overwhelming :) The nose did feel more planted in the afternoon sessions with the splitter added but but not in such a drastic fashion that it just bowled me over. My lap times did NOT drop in the afternoon with the splitter added. That said, it was a hot day and after lunch I dreaded having to put my driving suit back on. I was definitely feeling fatigued for the afternoon sessions. It was easy to put on and take off in the paddock with a hot engine bay like I planned, and it was about 15 min to put on. I also discovered that I don't need to put the car on jack stands to install / de-install. There is enough room for me to slide it underneath and get it on the studs so that saves a lot of time and hassle.

 

I feel like I need some more time to get an objective perspective of what its doing. Ultimately, need to make a vertical air dam for it and that means essentially losing my Bayson R front lip entirely. There are still a few areas that have a gap between the lip and the splitter and a proper air dam would certainly make it more effective. If I could get it to integrate into this lip or another Legacy lip with out gaps I'd probably call it good for now. Without going down a whole JDM front clip rathole, (something I'm not willing to do), there's only once other option worth trying from Auto City Imports, its only $85, about the same price as my Bayson R was, I'd be tempted to try to to see if perhaps it goes a bit lower to meet my splitter.

 

In any event, had a great time with the Porsche Club, fun pass montage here :)

 

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  • 4 weeks later...
Gee....everyone called mine a snowplow.....until it was finished and worked great.

 

Nice work. Read the PM I sent. A lot of good information in it.

 

send me the pm? or post it here?

 

Gator used aluminum gutter material to make the dam on the slippery pig. An aluminite sign for the splitter. He found a tight seal to the bumper was required. Also the front suspension needed to be stiffer as too much movement ruined the effects.

 

On the viper, we used cables with turnbuckles for the front connectors. This allowed adjusting the angle as well as better survival rates when contact happened

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Still pondering what I’m gonna do about a front air dam as it’s obvious that my Bayson R lip won’t work to get a tight seal with the splitter (and it’s not really a proper vertical air dam anyway). It’s just that it’s hard for me to get my head wrapped around bolting a chunk of garden edging to the front of my car :) it’s been a mental battle since I decommissioned the car as a daily driver; my mind knows it’s a full on track car now but my heart doesn’t want to keep tearing the car apart for the sake of function and speed. I know, that last statement is at odds with what a track car should be! At the end of the day I just need to accept it and move forward with my plan. The last thing you want is mods on a track car that don’t help you go faster, corner harder, or stop quicker. There is no place for faux mods IMHO Edited by shralp
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want to borrow the racewagon splitter/airdam? supposedly bolts up to the primitive skidplate

 

Good to know thats an option if I want to test fit it out, I have seen this one before, (I think) when Gator and I ran a day at ORP a number of years back.

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  • 1 year later...

Did a bit of tinkering this weekend under the car after getting it fixed from the deer strike in Sept. I discovered that my skid plate got bent a bit in the accident and now some of my mounts for the front splitter didn't line up :( With a bit of "coaxing" (5lb sledge hammer!) I got everything to line up again.

 

Someone had mentioned wanting to see more attachment pics so I took some more while I was under the car. To refresh, my goal was to make something that I could take on and off at the track, giving me the ability to keep it off for the drive to/from the track. I wanted something that I could install and pull off quickly without tearing a ton of stuff apart and it needed to be performed with a hot engine bay but without burning the crap out of me.

 

The photos pretty much explain it but essentially its a six point system. I made turnbuckles that can be quickly installed for the eyebolts you see. The pass side is attached by pulling the intake snorkel and latching the cable onto the bolt you see in the frame horn. There is a threaded insert there from the factory, no idea why. the drivers side uses another turnbuckle but this one passes thru a hole in the battery tray, (again its there from the factory). the two rearmost points are nut serts that I had installed in the skid plate. Those just pass thru the splitter and thread in. The last two points are the rods out front. It takes me about 8 min to take it on and off and yes, I can do it with the engine bay blazing hot and without jacking up the car :)

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Edited by shralp
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