roadpig58 Posted July 14, 2009 Report Share Posted July 14, 2009 picked upmy baby at the railyard/ramp today! cleaned it up and was wondering- has anyone adjusted their rear spoiler yet?- how does that thing work- seems like its non adjustable to me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Still Intense Posted July 14, 2009 Report Share Posted July 14, 2009 Roadpig: the spoiler is NOT adjustable in and of itself. However, I have read in several places that the Gurney Flap (it's that dark gray plastic thing across the top of your spoiler) will be available in different sizes from Ford. I have not seen a source of these larger Gurney Flaps or have any other info as to where to get them. If you didn't know, a Gurney Flap is used to increase downforce in a spoiler that is laid nearly horizontal. The closer a spoiler is to horizontal, the less downforce it generates, but also the less air resistance. So in order to increase downforce without significantly increasing air resistance, then you add a Gurney flap (or lip). The piece that does the work is the very short vertical part at the rear of the Gurney flap. Believe it or not, your "spoiler" is simply an upside down wing, instead of generating lift like in an airplane, it generates downforce. The larger that vertical tab gets (to a point) the greater the downforce that is generated. Ford added these to the Shelby's in order to have the car maintain a nearly neutral balance at hight speed. If I remember right, they tuned it to about 120 mph. Sorry for the long ramble, I road race cars and geek out on this stuff..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roadpig58 Posted July 14, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 14, 2009 Roadpig: the spoiler is NOT adjustable in and of itself.However, I have read in several places that the Gurney Flap (it's that dark gray plastic thing across the top of your spoiler) will be available in different sizes from Ford. I have not seen a source of these larger Gurney Flaps or have any other info as to where to get them. If you didn't know, a Gurney Flap is used to increase downforce in a spoiler that is laid nearly horizontal. The closer a spoiler is to horizontal, the less downforce it generates, but also the less air resistance. So in order to increase downforce without significantly increasing air resistance, then you add a Gurney flap (or lip). The piece that does the work is the very short vertical part at the rear of the Gurney flap. Believe it or not, your "spoiler" is simply an upside down wing, instead of generating lift like in an airplane, it generates downforce. The larger that vertical tab gets (to a point) the greater the downforce that is generated. Ford added these to the Shelby's in order to have the car maintain a nearly neutral balance at hight speed. If I remember right, they tuned it to about 120 mph. Sorry for the long ramble, I road race cars and geek out on this stuff..... thanks for the info and the reply- makes sense- didnt think that piece was going to move and didnt want to chance breaking it- thanks againl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharabi Posted July 14, 2009 Report Share Posted July 14, 2009 picked upmy baby at the railyard/ramp today! cleaned it up and was wondering- has anyone adjusted their rear spoiler yet?- how does that thing work- seems like its non adjustable to me Congrats on the new ride and please......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roadpig58 Posted July 14, 2009 Author Report Share Posted July 14, 2009 Congrats on the new ride and please......... will do on the pics if i can figure it out- roadpig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yraegel Posted July 16, 2009 Report Share Posted July 16, 2009 Roadpig: the spoiler is NOT adjustable in and of itself.However, I have read in several places that the Gurney Flap (it's that dark gray plastic thing across the top of your spoiler) will be available in different sizes from Ford. I have not seen a source of these larger Gurney Flaps or have any other info as to where to get them. If you didn't know, a Gurney Flap is used to increase downforce in a spoiler that is laid nearly horizontal. The closer a spoiler is to horizontal, the less downforce it generates, but also the less air resistance. So in order to increase downforce without significantly increasing air resistance, then you add a Gurney flap (or lip). The piece that does the work is the very short vertical part at the rear of the Gurney flap. Believe it or not, your "spoiler" is simply an upside down wing, instead of generating lift like in an airplane, it generates downforce. The larger that vertical tab gets (to a point) the greater the downforce that is generated. Ford added these to the Shelby's in order to have the car maintain a nearly neutral balance at hight speed. If I remember right, they tuned it to about 120 mph. Sorry for the long ramble, I road race cars and geek out on this stuff..... Please, ramble on! I was curious about the same. I knew it wasn't adjustable per se, but assumed you replaced the black strip with a different one for a given purpose. Still there is nothing that describes this in any of the manuals. I imagine it just pops off, but the last thing I want to do is start popping things off of my car right now. Having said that, the Gurney flap collects water when you wash it and you have to go back and dry it until the space drains. Washing it without the flap and treating/cleaning the flap separately sounds like a good idea if snapping it on and off many times doesn't degrade the connection or loosen it. Or something like that... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Still Intense Posted July 16, 2009 Report Share Posted July 16, 2009 yraegel: be careful what you ask for! In any case, I don't know how it comes off either and also don't intend to start pulling on it to see what happens. But he aerodynamics of it are very interesting. It was actually invented by the famous Dan Gurney; he managed to keep it a secret for quite some time but eventually the other race teams figured it out. He originally told them that it was a safety device so that team members could push on the car using the rear spoiler without cutting their hands.... It's also known as a wickerbill and a lot of helicopters use them on their tails for improved maneuverability. Essentially all that the Gurney flap does is create alternating horizontal air vortices on the trailing edge of the spoiler, which improves air flow and thus down force... Cool huh?! Wikipedia has a good description of it as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Still Intense Posted July 16, 2009 Report Share Posted July 16, 2009 And by the way, after you wash the car, just use and air compressor to blow the water out of the various places that it likes to hide, like the Gurney flap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneTrickPony Posted July 16, 2009 Report Share Posted July 16, 2009 And if you don't have an air compressor, use your leaf blower. It works great! I use it when I dry my other two vehicles off. I won't have to worry about the GT500 when it comes in (scheduled delivery date is July 29) because it will only be washed one time at the dealer and that's it. I only use detail spray and microfiber clothes to detail with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cobra010 Posted July 16, 2009 Report Share Posted July 16, 2009 Roadpig: the spoiler is NOT adjustable in and of itself.However, I have read in several places that the Gurney Flap (it's that dark gray plastic thing across the top of your spoiler) will be available in different sizes from Ford. I have not seen a source of these larger Gurney Flaps or have any other info as to where to get them. If you didn't know, a Gurney Flap is used to increase downforce in a spoiler that is laid nearly horizontal. The closer a spoiler is to horizontal, the less downforce it generates, but also the less air resistance. So in order to increase downforce without significantly increasing air resistance, then you add a Gurney flap (or lip). The piece that does the work is the very short vertical part at the rear of the Gurney flap. Believe it or not, your "spoiler" is simply an upside down wing, instead of generating lift like in an airplane, it generates downforce. The larger that vertical tab gets (to a point) the greater the downforce that is generated. Ford added these to the Shelby's in order to have the car maintain a nearly neutral balance at hight speed. If I remember right, they tuned it to about 120 mph. Sorry for the long ramble, I road race cars and geek out on this stuff..... That's my Boy!! :happy feet: Good Job Mark, Cobra2010 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yraegel Posted July 17, 2009 Report Share Posted July 17, 2009 yraegel: be careful what you ask for! In any case, I don't know how it comes off either and also don't intend to start pulling on it to see what happens. But he aerodynamics of it are very interesting. It was actually invented by the famous Dan Gurney; he managed to keep it a secret for quite some time but eventually the other race teams figured it out. He originally told them that it was a safety device so that team members could push on the car using the rear spoiler without cutting their hands.... It's also known as a wickerbill and a lot of helicopters use them on their tails for improved maneuverability. Essentially all that the Gurney flap does is create alternating horizontal air vortices on the trailing edge of the spoiler, which improves air flow and thus down force... Cool huh?! Wikipedia has a good description of it as well. No, carry on...I love it. I had heard the term before but never knew it was named for Dan Gurney. That's pretty cool. I'm an aviation geek wanna be pilot anyway so the aerodynamic thing holds my interest. Mmmmmm vortices No compressor. No leaf blower either. And I won't say anything about my lungs. EDIT: If anyone does get up the courage to pop things off of their car, please share the experience. Especially if you pop the flap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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