Yup I am at it again. With the successful diffuser build I am ready to tackle the front end. I could not find any information on the front tires sticking out past the bumper and what affect it has on aerodynamics. I always wondered if it would be best to have the flat splitter (horizontal) run out past the ends of the bumper to align to the edge of the tires and then bend a piece of metal to match the curvature of the front fender trim to cover the exposed tire. Would this be practical? Would it be best with a few slit vents angled more aggressively? Also do any small upper splitter wings matter on the bumper near the turn signals? To angle air up over the tire?
A tire sticking out into the airflow will hurt the flow around the side of the car. It make turbulence and drag. Even in open wheel racing you will see the front wing and floor shaped to divert air around the tire. So having flip-ups at the end of the splitter to help air up and around the tire is a good idea. It probably won't do anything for downforce but it will help for drag. The corner winglets help with downforce on a race car. But adding them to the MINI is just for looks. They are only stuck on with double sticky tape in most cases so how much can they really do. While your at it consider skirting the sides. I've done this in the past and it's on the list for my MINI. I've used conveyor belt material and vinyl waynescoating before.
That looks like it would be very effective, be cool if you could blow smoke over it before and after just to get an eyeball test of what it's doing. My wheels stick out to high heaven (9 inch wide on the front), and eventually I'll probably do RMW's wide body kit.
Looks to be affective. Did you try one with the bottom edge inline with the splitter so that it then has a cleaner "looking" edge at the bottom and angles out to your top point. Looks wise, it wouldn't look as squared off.. but who cares about looks on a race car right!!!
Tummi_Gummi, did you change to a straight exhaust or stay with the standard layout? Happen to have a rear shot?
The splitter I bought from Sneed Speed. I did make my own mounting brackets for it so it is right up against the sub-frame. The side deflectors are 20 or 22 gauge steel sheet - can't remember which off hand. Available at Home Depot & Lowes. I wanted something thick enough to not distort in the wind, but thin enough to cut and work. I bent the outside edges over for extra rigidity and so there are no sharp edges.
Stand r53 it Y's around the battery box. The middle horizontal piece of the diffuser lines up with the box.
These should help anyone looking to copy. The rear flaps really seal in the deal. I also made a 1" slightly curved piece of aluminum for mounting the diffuser to the bumper trim to support the plastic, at first I though huge washers could distribute the weight but I was wrong. So the strips of aluminum had matching cat holes and acted as a sandwhich to keep the trim flat and weight distribution even.
The key is the middle piece because it is at an angle. And is a key component to have straight and even. So I used a flat edge of a fresh cut aluminum sheet for it. My cutoff wheel could cut straight enough and I didn't want to try to grind it either. It's 13" on the outside flat piece and 10" wide on the inside piece. That inch and a half wider end on both sides gives the diffuser the right amount of angle. I think the dams on both sides were square 15" then I had to custom cut it to fit around my mufflers. And the vertical pieces were something like 5 1/2 and 4 1/2" that way They were the same because the rear bumper curves upward as it goes towards the outsides. The 5 1/2 go on the outside