[WedgeSalad]

Seen way too many busted front carbon splitters I decided to make my own of aluminum and abs. Here are just a few photos from through the process of 3D Scanning, Designing, and finally fitting. Splitter is chassis mounted and supports my full body weight Still need to make the leading edge portion but I am waiting for the material to come in.

[c0riolis]

Looking good! What chassis mounting points did you use?

[WedgeSalad]

I used two points just in front of the center jacking point and then 2 more on the aluminum tubes that connect to the front bumper. Not exactly sure what you'd call them.

[Sultan hamdi]

Would u share the file for the design?

[WedgeSalad]

Originally Posted by Sultan hamdi

Would u share the file for the design?

Not at this time sorry

[F87source]

You should add a front air dam to stop air from trying to go between the front splitter and bump via the fang areas. If air gets through to the bottom side of the car then you lose pressure on top of the splitter making it less effective. However, regardless if air gets through or not, air will get trapped there causing turbulence and increase drag and negatively impact clean flow going through the lower bumper opening. If you have an air dam there you can solve this - a nice front lip that matches the curvature of the bumper will help.


Other than that it looks ok, I would probably make it much much much larger and cover the entire stiffening plate, because the bottom side is what makes the majority of the down force not really the top side, and you need the surface area to really make any meaningful downforce. I would also switch to alumalite to save weight. Other than that it is nice, props on the CAD and laser scanning.

[WedgeSalad]

Originally Posted by F87source

You should add a front air dam to stop air from trying to go between the front splitter and bump via the fang areas. If air gets through to the bottom side of the car then you lose pressure on top of the splitter making it less effective. However, regardless if air gets through or not, air will get trapped there causing turbulence and increase drag and negatively impact clean flow going through the lower bumper opening. If you have an air dam there you can solve this - a nice front lip that matches the curvature of the bumper will help.


Other than that it looks ok, I would probably make it much much much larger and cover the entire stiffening plate, because the bottom side is what makes the majority of the down force not really the top side, and you need the surface area to really make any meaningful downforce. I would also switch to alumalite to save weight. Other than that it is nice, props on the CAD and laser scanning.

Thanks for the insight! I've been working on an air damn as you say but my surface modelling skills aren't the greatest so its taking some time. Unfortunately the livability with how low my car is will keep me from making the splitter any larger. I may extend its width a bit though. It also goes quite far back on the front end of the car, approaching the center jacking point.

[FaRKle!]

Originally Posted by WedgeSalad

Thanks for the insight! I've been working on an air damn as you say but my surface modelling skills aren't the greatest so its taking some time. Unfortunately the livability with how low my car is will keep me from making the splitter any larger. I may extend its width a bit though. It also goes quite far back on the front end of the car, approaching the center jacking point.

You can make an air dam for that gap with some garage door seal, or the "auto variant," All-fit universal bumper lip. Just position it so it cups/traps the air instead of letting it push the seal down and get by. I'd fasten it to the splitter and not to the underside of the bumper. You can recess it a bit from the front of the bumper and nobody will really ever see the "crude" way you did it.

[M2guru]

Originally Posted by WedgeSalad

Unfortunately the livability with how low my car is will keep me from making the splitter any larger.

I believe FaRKle! was suggesting you extend the length not forward of the bumper but underneath the car - this will provide additional, and likely, measurable benefit and should not impact street drivability.

[F87source]

Originally Posted by M2guru

I believe FaRKle! was suggesting you extend the length not forward of the bumper but underneath the car - this will provide additional, and likely, measurable benefit and should not impact street drivability.

No he was talking about the rubber sealing strip. I was talking about making it larger and going under the car and it is better than extending forwards because:

If you extend it forward it will pose ALOT of additional problems:

1) The further the splitter sticks out the more likely it will hit the ground when you are going down a driveway or slopes. Because now your splitter is sticking so far forward it will hit the lower part of the ground before your car can begin to level out.

2) The further a splitter sticks out, the more leverage will be generated because more of the splitter is unsupported. This means you must add splitter support rods (unless your splitter is strong and light enough (so pretty much carbon splitters only) you can technically get away with chassis mounts only), whereas with the splitter under the car you can use mounting points under the car. There are 2 really nice ones by the intercooler, near the skid block things.

3) The area that generates the most down force on a splitter is the bottom, it has and always will be the suction side on any aero device. This is because you can get the coefficent of pressure really low on the underside of an aero device vs. the trying to get the stagnation pressure really high on top of an aero device (you can't get it too high without completely stalling flow along the aero surface and then you lose downforce from the underside completely at those angles). Plus the suction side is capable of generating extremely efficent downforce (meaning super low drag penalty) because it utilizes the venturi effect (ground effect) where it speeds up air to drop the pressure. The top side of an aero device must utilize higher angle of attack to increase the pressure on the top surface, this results in alot of drag due to more of the element now being exposed to the air stream.


So while extending the splitter forward would increase the bottom surface area in conjunction with the top, and if you factor in 2 similar sized splitters one going under and one going forward. The one going forward would have more downforce (and I doubt it would be significantly more since the top side is completely flat and that will not be able to generate a massive amount of stagnation pressure to make a massive difference) because of its larger top surface area. But the negatives are: support, and ground clearance. So it would be preferable to extend it under the car along the stiffening plate.

The benefits of going under the car is that you clean lower body air flow reducing drag (the stiffening plate is a nightmare in terms of being aero friendly with its raised edges and exposed bolts - this is why the m4gts had a cover for it), you also don't affect ground clearance as much because it is just a thin piece of aluminium, and you now create a flat floor effect and condition flow across the underside of the car which drops pressure under the car making more downforce from the underbody.



Plus this is how modern day splitters are designed - by focusing on how to optimize the bottom of the front splitter - diffusers, strakes etc. Look at the gt3rs and you'll see exactly what I mean (the splitter barely sticks out at all and still makes massive downforce), look at verus engineering's splitters and it is the same philosophy. Enhance the underside instead of making it stick out a whole bunch.


If you are building a race car that chases for every single bit of downforce then you can and should do both and extend the splitter as far forward as legality of your racing series allows for (don't forget to account for brake dive where the front splitter can touch the ground especially if it's very long), but for a dual purpose car the sweet spot and the main gains will be the underside of the splitter and the underside of the car. So making it go under the car is a far better approach.

[M2guru]

Originally Posted by F87source

No he was talking about the rubber sealing strip. I was talking about making it larger and going under the car ...

You're right - I called out the wrong person in my post. My bad.

[320IN54]

I am interested in designing a functional front splitter and rear wing as well for my car. What is the process of getting your front bumper 3D scanned? Did you hire a company or did you do it yourself? How much did it cost?

[F87source]

Originally Posted by 320IN54

I am interested in designing a functional front splitter and rear wing as well for my car. What is the process of getting your front bumper 3D scanned? Did you hire a company or did you do it yourself? How much did it cost?

Imo I'd bring the car to versus engineering, they not only have the experience 3d scanning the car, but they also have very good experience with CFD simulation to ensure the aero parts they make are actually functional and make good downforce - which is probably as important as the scan itself. Remember it's not just about making a large flat surface for a splitter, there are tricks to massively increase down force I.e. splitter diffusers.

Plus versus can also produce parts with high accuracy and tolerance too, and this very very important, because even if your design is good, it won't make as much downforce as it's supposed to if the parts produced don't match the model. Air flow is very finicky and can easily detach from the surface if it's designed and manufacturered poorly.

[320IN54]

Originally Posted by F87source

Imo I'd bring the car to versus engineering, they not only have the experience 3d scanning the car, but they also have very good experience with CFD simulation to ensure the aero parts they make are actually functional and make good downforce - which is probably as important as the scan itself. Remember it's not just about making a large flat surface for a splitter, there are tricks to massively increase down force I.e. splitter diffusers.

Plus versus can also produce parts with high accuracy and tolerance too, and this very very important, because even if your design is good, it won't make as much downforce as it's supposed to if the parts produced don't match the model. Air flow is very finicky and can easily detach from the surface if it's designed and manufacturered poorly.

I doubt any company will produce a decent aero package for my car without me dumping thousands of dollars into their engineering hours. I'm pretty sure they will just quickly design a generic splitter and wing that will have minimal if not any effects on aerodynamics. I actually work full-time as a mechanical design engineer at a company specializing in hydraulics for nuclear applications so I am confident in my CAD and CFD skills. Plus this will give me something to do on the weekend as a side project for my car.

[F87source]

Originally Posted by 320IN54

I doubt any company will produce a decent aero package for my car without me dumping thousands of dollars into their engineering hours. I'm pretty sure they will just quickly design a generic splitter and wing that will have minimal if not any effects on aerodynamics. I actually work full-time as a mechanical design engineer at a company specializing in hydraulics for nuclear applications so I am confident in my CAD and CFD skills. Plus this will give me something to do on the weekend as a side project for my car.

No, I meant if verus is looking for a development car to develop parts for the F87 platform then I think development costs will be free, and parts will be discounted for you. That's how most companies expand to new platforms. If they're not looking for a development car then yeah it won't be cheap.


If you're capable of doing the design work then i'm pretty sure there is going to be alot of 3D scanning places willing to do it for you, I am unfortunately unable to tell you where a local spot is though. But just make sure you scan the whole car, then you can work on the flow fields around the front tires, underbody, diffuser, rear tires, roof and rear window - because I think the m2 has a bit of flow separation there (pretty much a full scan lets you work on flow fields of the entire car) instead of just a local area.

[-Eidos]

Originally Posted by 320IN54

I doubt any company will produce a decent aero package for my car without me dumping thousands of dollars into their engineering hours. I'm pretty sure they will just quickly design a generic splitter and wing that will have minimal if not any effects on aerodynamics. I actually work full-time as a mechanical design engineer at a company specializing in hydraulics for nuclear applications so I am confident in my CAD and CFD skills. Plus this will give me something to do on the weekend as a side project for my car.

Zebulon CFDs all of their stuff.

https://zebulonmsc.com/collections/f...062775db&_ss=c

https://zebulonmsc.com/pages/design-...-manufacturing

[fourthchirpin]

does anyone know if anyone sells flat floors for the M2?

[F87source]

Originally Posted by fourthchirpin

does anyone know if anyone sells flat floors for the M2?

No to my knowledge, but the problem isn't just getting the flat floor, it is the supporting changes required to make it work. You have to block all engine bay air flow from exiting to the under side of the car otherwise you just mess up the air flow in that region by sending low energy dirty hot air to the floor. Next you have to find a way to keep the exhaust, transmission, and diff cool with a flat floor sealing all these components against the chassis and no air flow able to reach it. Then you also have to find a way to clear the suspension components and differential. So it's a huge challenge and with how small the track community is on the F87 I doubt anyone is putting any serious money into make serious aero parts for it.

[fourthchirpin]

Originally Posted by F87source

No to my knowledge, but the problem isn't just getting the flat floor, it is the supporting changes required to make it work. You have to block all engine bay air flow from exiting to the under side of the car otherwise you just mess up the air flow in that region by sending low energy dirty hot air to the floor. Next you have to find a way to keep the exhaust, transmission, and diff cool with a flat floor sealing all these components against the chassis and no air flow able to reach it. Then you also have to find a way to clear the suspension components and differential. So it's a huge challenge and with how small the track community is on the F87 I doubt anyone is putting any serious money into make serious aero parts for it.

you can put exit vents to cool or release exhaust heat / trapped air out. Just was curious.

[F87source]

Originally Posted by fourthchirpin

you can put exit vents to cool or release exhaust heat / trapped air out. Just was curious.

Yeah I know, I was just pointing out that there isn't any flat floor kit that I have ever seen, and I spent alot of time looking. (Not trying to be a dick head or anything, just wanted to point out the complexity of doing this)

The main question is where would you put these vents? On the floor? That would release dirty air to the floor and reduce all performance that it would generate, defeating it's purpose. It's a tough issue to solve on a street car, on a race car you could just cut a hole in the fender and go side exit exhaust.

[F87source]

Also iirc versus tested a custom made alumalite flat floor for the frs, it made iirc 500 lbs of down force, and a lot of potential down force was robbed due to the tire squirt hurting floor performance, so if you really wanted good floor performance you'll have to some how deal with the tire wake. So that means cut bumpers and fenders, and strakes on the floor to push out that tire wake (if you look at some Ferraris they have under body strakes to deal with the front and rear tire wake, the new gt3rs has front strakes to help with the front tire wake as well). Also ride height has to be very low for the flat floor to be effective, and some rake really helps too.

[fourthchirpin]

Originally Posted by F87source

Also iirc versus tested a custom made alumalite flat floor for the frs, it made iirc 500 lbs of down force, and a lot of potential down force was robbed due to the tire squirt hurting floor performance, so if you really wanted good floor performance you'll have to some how deal with the tire wake. So that means cut bumpers and fenders, and strakes on the floor to push out that tire wake (if you look at some Ferraris they have under body strakes to deal with the front and rear tire wake, the new gt3rs has front strakes to help with the front tire wake as well). Also ride height has to be very low for the flat floor to be effective, and some rake really helps too.

u have pics of the ferrari strakes? really interesting.