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WHY? Front wheel drive cars with tail wings!?!

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
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Just curious, but why do so many FRONT WHEEL DRIVE sporty cars have tail wings?

The whole point of the tail wing is to put down pressure on the rear drive wheels but since the rear wheels don't drive the car what is the point? I ask this because I was watching the SPEED channel while doing some work, they had the VW TDI CUP races going on. The cars have a rear wing and are front drive.

Am I confused?:ermm:
 

fogtender

Now a Published Author
Site Supporter
The harder the car is pressed to the ground, the faster it can go fast, turn left....
 

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
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. . . turn left....
TDI Cup racers turn both ways, its not NASCAR :whistling:

But on a serious note, on a FRONT wheel drive car, does the rear wing ACTUALLY help with traction?
 

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
Mostly just for looks ......

Well yes, on the street cars. But these were actual race cars to which I am referring and questioning. I'm not even sure that a VW TDI Cup car can drive fast enough on the short twisty race courses they use to generate downforce from any wing but I still wonder if a rear wing helps a front drive car?
 

thcri

Gone But Not Forgotten
If they are race cars then I would think it would help keep the back end down while cornering. A front wheel drive on a sharp corner will can send the back end around on you. JMO no experience here
 

BigAl

Gone But Not Forgotten
SUPER Site Supporter
Well yes, on the street cars. But these were actual race cars to which I am referring and questioning. I'm not even sure that a VW TDI Cup car can drive fast enough on the short twisty race courses they use to generate downforce from any wing but I still wonder if a rear wing helps a front drive car?

Sorry Bob , I did not realize you were talking about race cars .
 

Av8r3400

Gone Flyin'
One of the problems with racing front drivers is getting the rear tires up to temperature for proper traction.

I would imagine any rear down-force that can be had is good for handling. There is usually a very low spoiler in the front for front down-force.

I remember watching a euro-racing thing of "Street Stock" VW TDi's and when they would corner hard, they were set up to lift the inside rear tire. That's what they had to do to corner fast without a big wing on the trunk lid.
 

NorthernRedneck

Well-known member
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I would venture a guess that the wings on even a front wheel drive car will help with the areodynamics of the car and help to stabilize the rear end in the corners. I think it has allot to do with the amount of drag the wing produces to help stabilize the rear end by creating downforce to keep the rear end planted to the ground.
 

Tractors4u

Active member
Site Supporter
On the same theme. Do you remember the Buicks from the 50's and how they had the small oval shaped vents on the front fenders in front of the doors? They sell fake Buick fender vents and I see many blacks and Mexicans putting them on everything, Nissans, Pontiacs, Hyundias!
 

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
One of the problems with racing front drivers is getting the rear tires up to temperature for proper traction.

I would imagine any rear down-force that can be had is good for handling. There is usually a very low spoiler in the front for front down-force.

I remember watching a euro-racing thing of "Street Stock" VW TDi's and when they would corner hard, they were set up to lift the inside rear tire. That's what they had to do to corner fast without a big wing on the trunk lid.

Well my Jetta TDI is set up with the same body as the TDI CUP race cars, the front end is not offered as an option and must be dealer or user installed, it does have a completely different shape than the stock front end. I also have the silly little wing on the trunk. Honestly as Al wrote, "for looks" because it does not seem big enough to provide any real downforce but its the same wing as on the TDI CUP racers.

Below is a picture of the TDI Cup front end (aka "Thunderbunny" front end) on my TDI Jetta. I'm not sure that there is any additional downforce provided by this front end, but it clearly offers more ability to suck air into the engine area.
P1070878.jpg


Here is the standard front end of the TDI Jetta, there is less grill area and the shape is more rounded.
JettaTDI-539__1223064906_5816.jpg


Here is a photo of some TDI CUP racers, you can very clearly see how small the tail wing is on these cars. I'm still not sure that the wing can offer any real downforce?
vir-jetta-tdi-cup-race-580-46.jpg



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On the same theme. Do you remember the Buicks from the 50's and how they had the small oval shaped vents on the front fenders in front of the doors? They sell fake Buick fender vents and I see many blacks and Mexicans putting them on everything, Nissans, Pontiacs, Hyundias!
I saw them on a pimped out HUMMER the other day!
 

Av8r3400

Gone Flyin'
On the same theme. Do you remember the Buicks from the 50's and how they had the small oval shaped vents on the front fenders in front of the doors? They sell fake Buick fender vents and I see many blacks and Mexicans putting them on everything, Nissans, Pontiacs, Hyundias!


Wanna-bees.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqGY05DinZA"]YouTube- P-51 Mustang engine start, close-up[/ame]
 

fogtender

Now a Published Author
Site Supporter
TDI Cup racers turn both ways, its not NASCAR :whistling:

But on a serious note, on a FRONT wheel drive car, does the rear wing ACTUALLY help with traction?

Was being funny about the turn left.

Most of that class of cars have a wing which is like a plane wing, but is upside down, instead of lift to get a plane into the air, it pushes down and smashes the car harder to the ground so it can make sharper turns at a higher rate of speeds without flipping around (fish tailing).

They also have a low skirt around many of the racers to cause a suction to make that effect even greater, or instead of the wing.
 
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