I really hope this isn't a stupid questions (wouldn't be my first time, sadly), but can someone please explain to me the purpose of these quite large (to my eye anyhow) dangling bits? If they were on the back side of the wheel, I'd say they were very nice stone/mud guards, obviously. But they are on the FRONT of the wheel area. There is no duct work to direct air UP, so .....? :confused5: Please, tell me what I'm missing and help me decide if they need a little nip/tuck action...? Don
According to the parts listings they are called Pressure lip seals. I'd imagine they are there for some type of air shaping.
They are an air dam to prevent as much air as possible from getting under the car at speed. It's the primary source of aerodynamic down force on the front of the car.
If you really want to see if they do anything I would suggest taking a drive on a highway and maintain a specific speed, then log your fuel mileage. Then remove them take the same drive at the same speed and see if the mileage goes up.
I was wondering about that, Mark! :biggrin5: So far, so good here on that count. But tomorrow is another day...
My little deflectors got torn off in no time. I didn't see any ill-effects because they were missing... But like was stated above, the earlier R56s had straight, smaller profile ones. Didn't have the kink in them. Those would probably take a lot to fall off. Edit: I guess they were pretty substantial lol and gone (or more like cut off)