Question for the aerodynamic experts...

[MikeinAlexandria]

Sitting here watching an old 007, For Your Eyes Only... with the Lotus Esprit driving in the snow in Cortina... Cool movie.

But that is not my question. I am curious about the spoiler that is installed on the California Edition Elise. Are these available? I emailed Lotus Garage about them but have yet to hear. Has anyone installed one? Does it just glue in place? I saw a California Elise in person recently and really liked the spoiler, but am curious if it really generates much downforce? Or is it just a poser to make the car look a little racier?

Thanks in advance for an answer and perhaps a source for the spoiler.

[ewalberg]

I'm pretty sure it is the same design that's on the elise S...

[lotusforsale]

Originally Posted by MikeinAlexandria

Sitting here watching an old 007, For Your Eyes Only... with the Lotus Esprit driving in the snow in Cortina... Cool movie.

But that is not my question. I am curious about the spoiler that is installed on the California Edition Elise. Are these available? I emailed Lotus Garage about them but have yet to hear. Has anyone installed one? Does it just glue in place? I saw a California Elise in person recently and really liked the spoiler, but am curious if it really generates much downforce? Or is it just a poser to make the car look a little racier?

Thanks in advance for an answer and perhaps a source for the spoiler.

Mike

For my last Elise I ordered one from FVMC, painted. It came in and looked pretty good, but a bad packing job meant damage on both ends, so in the going back and forth with FVMC I wound up shipping it back. never did put it or another on before I sold the car.

Aesthetically, generally Lotus people don't like them. They're ok by me.

Functionally, Lotus says some downforce, but I don't think anyone really knows.

Installing is four bolts...you have to drill holes in the clam. Measure 6 times, drill once.

[MikeinAlexandria]

How much was FVMC charging for it? I didn't realize it was possible to obtain one already painted.

Originally Posted by lotusforsale

Mike

For my last Elise I ordered one from FVMC, painted. It came in and looked pretty good, but a bad packing job meant damage on both ends, so in the going back and forth with FVMC I wound up shipping it back. never did put it or another on before I sold the car.

Aesthetically, generally Lotus people don't like them. They're ok by me.

Functionally, Lotus says some downforce, but I don't think anyone really knows.

Installing is four bolts...you have to drill holes in the clam. Measure 6 times, drill once.

[lotusforsale]

Originally Posted by MikeinAlexandria

How much was FVMC charging for it? I didn't realize it was possible to obtain one already painted.

Sure. I would imagine for a price any dealer will spray a body part and ship it off to you.

I ordered Exige side scoops for the same Elise from FVMC, and they painted them perfectly before shipping.

As far as price for the spoiler, I don't recall, it's been a couple years. You should contact them directly. I can tell you it's not cheap. Like a lot of things with these cars, you tend to rationalize what you want to do with them and what you want to spend.

[MikeinAlexandria]

I have a scratch on the back, that was there when I bought the car. My thought is that it is cheaper to cover the scratch with the spoiler than to try and repaint the scratch.

I think the car would look pretty cool with it too.

[Hello Kitty]

Esta makes one :



ESTA INTERNATIONAL - Elise S2 Esta Style Body kit in Carbon Fiber and Fiberglass

[kmt63]

the gut wing might hide that scratch too.it looks like it would be functional also.

[cobrabyte]

Don't buy from ESTA. Half-ass quality and terrible (non-existent?) 'customer service.'

See: Group buy - Esta International Carbon fiber engine cover

[sleepe]

Originally Posted by cobrabyte

Don't buy from ESTA. Half-ass quality and terrible (non-existent?) 'customer service.'

See: Group buy - Esta International Carbon fiber engine cover

agree

[advanracing62]

Thanks for the heads up on Esta- I was thinking of picking some of their stuff up- but not now...

[snuggles1]

Originally Posted by lotusforsale

Mike

For my last Elise I ordered one from FVMC, painted. It came in and looked pretty good, but a bad packing job meant damage on both ends, so in the going back and forth with FVMC I wound up shipping it back. never did put it or another on before I sold the car.

Aesthetically, generally Lotus people don't like them. They're ok by me.

Functionally, Lotus says some downforce, but I don't think anyone really knows.

Installing is four bolts...you have to drill holes in the clam. Measure 6 times, drill once.

Three well-known things on wings (you can find more on LT): of course Lotus or anyone else knows what the amount of downforce created is by any wing. There's a standard calculation that takes into account chord length and angle, etc. So, anyone can figure it out.

Second, all wings create form drag, so they slow you car down, while creating downforce. Decide what you really want.

Third, there's an old maxim about "what happens in the front affects the rear" thats true of course. so you have to consider both areas. This basically means that if you create downforce in the rear, you've lost some up front. And vice-versa

[ZQQM]

I been looking for one of the California Edition spoilers too.

I de-winged my Exige ( just don't like the stock wing ) and wanted to add something a little more low key to balance out the rear end.

Does anyone know if this spoiler would fit an Exige?

And I think I found one on TWRD website, available in both Carbon and glass versions.

[mihernan]

Originally Posted by snuggles1

Second, all wings create form drag, so they slow you car down, while creating downforce.

While it's true wings will slow you down in a straight line, wings are obviously used to create downforce in turns, increasing grip and thereby increasing your speed through a turn. Spoilers on the other hand are used to reduce drag on certain types of vehicles, however in modern car design have become purely aesthetic. The Kamm tail of the Elise has the biggest effect on drag and the wing in question will have little to no impact on downforce or drag. Additionally, because the body panels are so flexible, any wing that is not fixed to the structure of the car will not have enough strength to have any positive effect on the car.

[snuggles1]

Originally Posted by mihernan

While it's true wings will slow you down in a straight line, wings are obviously used to create downforce in turns, increasing grip and thereby increasing your speed through a turn. Spoilers on the other hand are used to reduce drag on certain types of vehicles, however in modern car design have become purely aesthetic. The Kamm tail of the Elise has the biggest effect on drag and the wing in question will have little to no impact on downforce or drag. Additionally, because the body panels are so flexible, any wing that is not fixed to the structure of the car will not have enough strength to have any positive effect on the car.

all i said was that they create form drag; of course they provide downforce...isnt that the purpose?

you must know that air dams, splitters and wings are EXTREMELY effective aero effects... but i'm not sure how u know that the wing in question will have no effect on downforce or drag.

I simply cant make an assumption like that. But I can re-read my 890 page book on auto aerodynamics. Maybe you have the same one to refer to?

[TimMullen]

Originally Posted by snuggles1

Three well-known things on wings (you can find more on LT): of course Lotus or anyone else knows what the amount of downforce created is by any wing. There's a standard calculation that takes into account chord length and angle, etc. So, anyone can figure it out.

The calculations won't take into account the rest of the car's aerodynamics. Usually it takes wind tunnel testing to confirm extensive calculations of the aerodynamics. In any case, add on aerodynamics won't have that big of an increase in "down force" (actually usually the elimination of the generation of lift).

And yes, Lotus does know how much "down force" is generated. The amazing part is that the general shape of the Elise actually creates "down force" instead of lift unlike almost every other car out there. The front splitter and rear wing (along with the "fast back" shape) of the Exige generates a bit more.

[snuggles1]

The calculations won't take into account the rest of the car's aerodynamics. >> agreed but you can still get info from considering the angle, chord length, width, etc... I wasnt expecting wind tunnel research, just a general idea. Surprisingly even no angle wings create downforce... strange as it seems.

[Iceman-]

The problem is that the lack of Hp.
The lotuses can't get a shape or wings to generate a lot of downforce simply because the speed will be affected a lot.
Or, in the other side, you can't generate a lot of DF effect with little wings at low speeds.

[holmz]

Wings and spoilers are different.
I would suspect that a 2" piece of angle iron would also increase down force but increasing the pressure ahead of it over the rear of the car.
And a piece of angle iron screwed into a wing or rear clam is a spoiler.

The difference between 4 and 40 pounds of down force compared to 1200 pounds on the rear wheels is pretty small.
Either the 1200 has to tumble down, or the 40 needs to start rising to make any significant difference.

Going from the standard wing to the small one make sense ascetically.
Going from standard wing to a bigger one makes sense performance wise.
I would not worry too much unless you primarily tracking the car.

[RENDERMAN]

Question, why is there some much down force difference between the Exige and Elise when the front clams are not that much different, Is it the front splitter?