Measuring Pressure Changes With a Spoiler: Part 2
When I first figured out that guessing at aerodynamic changes is stupid and that I could test things and learn how modifications to my car actually affect the air flowing around it, one of the first devices I tested was a lip spoiler . This spoiler was a strip tape-type, which are cheap and easy to install on any car. Despite being less than an inch tall, the lip spoiler increased pressures over the rear window and roof by as much as 30 Pa—a substantial change for something I thought would have little to no effect! Fast forward two years and the spoiler has reached the end of its life: I discovered on a recent trip that the tape had begun to fail and the spoiler was coming loose. Since the lip spoiler would have to be removed anyway, I decided to use this as an opportunity to conduct some more investigations into the behavior of a spoiler on my car. I made a cardboard spoiler in the shape of the stock spoiler and cut out some angled spacers at 10 ° , 20 ° , and 30 ° : I got a mit