I like the spoiler, but he's right when he says he scrapes the skid pads frequently. Though the spoiler looks great and is likely very functional on the track, it would likely be destroyed where I drive within a week. I'm so thankful of having myskid pads on the 355. There is no way that spoiler would be unscratched when getting into and out of my driveway, even at extreme angles. Thanks for sharing the pictures of your car though, definitely a beauty.
+355 Yes ..... as Scott said those vertical structures do show through with the mesh I used ...... which I picked out because it matched the mesh on the engine lid. I do like that grill in the pics ......... it would actually be easier to fabricate it that way than recessing the grill as I did on mine ..... mine required a bunch of welding and paint work to inset the grill. I do have another rear panel thanks to Oengus .............. maybe I will do a surface mount grill like that, save for the little triangles around the taillights ........ and probably use a slightly bigger radius on the corners ....... ?? Great video and very nice roads !!!! Beautiful car Corsa1997 !!!!!!
Thanks all！ And another F355 pic! Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I ordered a lip spoiler from these guys http://www.valenceusa.com/index.htm for my 348...I don't see a 355 one listed but maybe they can make you one? Might be worth asking them. Prices were VERY reasonable and from the time I placed my order it took them 3-4 weeks to deliver product. I'm sure you have checked with our CF sponsors but if you've not tried that route...might be another place to check. Good luck on it...
A couple of aerodynamic comments, not meant to dis any part or manufacture:: The most important part of the air-dam on the front end is how it blends into the underbody air channel. The seam way up under the body must be a smooth and seamless as possible. The given picture shows that at least this one does not blend seamlessly into the air channel. A wing on the back of an F355 in the pictures creates almost no downforce since the airflow in this part of the car is downward at about 8 degrees off the back deck towards the lip of the rear spoiler. Now, if the wing is raised to the height of the cabin and it operates in clean air and produces 3X-4X what it produces (down low) as pictured. Surprisingly the drag is similar in both circumstances. The challenge grill and back end treatments that admit more air out, accentuate the lack of downforce from the wing by letting air from within the engine bay to exit towards the rear, bringing the air down from the cabin at a steaper angle. These issues are dealt with in "Race Car Aerodynamics: designing for speed" Joseph Katz. Then there is a secondary issue with the air dam up front, if you want the air channel under the car to operrate at peak efficiency, you need the air flowing in the channel to have a vortex on each side of the channel. Air flowing under the car and into the air channel will naturally create a vortex from mid-body all the way to the rear. Up front what you want to do is to have a couple of lips at the leading edge where air is directed under the body to start the vortex at the front of the car. This increases the downforce under the whole car. You HAVE to have the vortex generated by these lips spin the air in the SAME direction as created later on from air flowing from the sides. The lips are not going to be in the positions one normally finds from amateur aerodynamicists.
