Rear wing on front wheel drive cars

[siskue2005]

hello guys,
i wanted to add a rear wing on my Chevy cruze....but the sho guy told me its not going to help in a front wheel driven car!
is it true? as i think no matter where the drives are will it not give aero benefit in a corner?
will it not stabilze my rear end?
or will it give me extra drag and low fuel economy?
Thank you

[Giblet]

It will take away fuel economy and holes will be drilled in your trunk, Through the paint, primer, and bare steel. It will likely negatively affect resale. Adding rear wing and no front spoiler means the balance will change, and the rear will potentially be lower then the front, making the fronts less grippy.

Aero is near useless until 120km/h, so if you require your rear to be more stable during all that 120km/h cornering

My honest opinion, if it is not a track car, then don't bother it will look dumb for not much gain if any. Slapping wings on Cruz's is not something people over 25 usually do to street cars like a Cruz.

[mep]

The shop guy is right, the wing will not help at all.
You have a front wheel driven car with the engine also located in the front, right?
So there is lots of mass on the driven wheels and few on the rear ones. The car is probably already understeering due to the high mass and the fact that the driven wheels are also used for steering.
Your rear end is probably not causing any problems so you don't need to stabilize it. When you add a wing to the rear you will unload the front and add this load to the rear but this does not change the fact that your car has high masses in front which have to be carried trough a corner by lateral front tire forces. So your car will understeer even more in high speed corners. Also the drag of the car will be increased. In the end nothing can be won by this.

[marcush.]

I don´t think so .

A wing is a aerodynamic device and it will certainly be more effective at higher speeds.
This is when you NEED a car which is a bit understeering for high speed confidence ..it will certainly make the car stable in quick corners.

The clue of it: A front drive car will suffer a lot of understeer mainly at lower speeds ...so this rear wing opens the posibility to setup the car with wild amounts of oversteer at lower speed to the extend of having an uncontrollable situation in quick corners (as you run out of opposite lock) ...but the rear wing will look after this and so in effect the rear wing will help your low speed cornering ...
as it opens setup possibilities.


so YES a rear wing on a frontdriove car has its place for certain setup directions.

[MIKEY_!]

They are right, there is nothing to be gained by fitting a rear wing to a cruze, for all the reasons listed above. Also most people with car knowledge will think you are silly, (nothing personal just warning you). On really old or badly designed front wheel drive cars there is sometimes some benefit in high speed corners as it can reduce oversteer under braking. Nothing set-up changes couldn't fix probably and the cruze likely had that sort of thing dealt with early in the design phase. It's really just a hang-over from the days when family cars were rear wheel drive, with some due to touring cars like BTCC. They have splitters at the front to even things out, but they are less noticeable.

Don't think the cruze could be set up like that marcush. Interesting point though. This is no special edition racing Cruze is it?

[marcush.]

boy oh boy I had my share of FWD racing and a rear wing is worth its weight in gold in the high speed areas .
It´s very real .
If we speak of normal daily driving ..understeer is considered the safe mode so ..
it does not hurt really.

With short compacts or even the cruze it may well be possible the rear wing does not add but reduce overall drag ..even if I admit to bolting on something for looks is unlikely to have a lot of effect apart from adding weight.

I´m sure the works rear wing from RML would be a nice addition but it will shoot a respectable hole in your pocket first....so of course the whole discussion is academic...invest in a good(light) set of wheels tyres is a lot better ..

[siskue2005]

Thanks for the help guys.
i think the benfits are mostly for track cars, not a road car.
i have decided not to get it

instead going for ligter wheels and grippier wider tyres is much more benifitial.
and some better springs would help me with grip

thank you guys

[Just_a_fan]

A decent set of brakes would be as useful as anything else...

[siskue2005]

A decent set of brakes would be as useful as anything else...

[donskar]

I have a FWD car (Nissan 200SX SE-R). A rear wing WILL help IF part of a complete package. My FWD car came from the factory with a rear wing, but THEN I ADDED:
rear sway bar (it had none)
stiffer front sway bar
Tein adjustable coil overs
Front lowered about 40mm rear lowered about 25mm (front lower because nose heavy)
Wider alloy wheels
Nitto NeoGen 205/50 X 15 tires
Front and rear strut tower braces
NEXT: more front downforce through splitter or chin spoilers and relocate battery to trunk (boot)

Now, I humbly admit, the car will easily outcorners its driver. Think of the entire package -- adding a wing alone puts you in the boy racer/poseur category.

[Dragonfly]

Strange, my son bought an old 200SX (S13) and it is a RWD car.

[Byronrhys]

Strange, my son bought an old 200SX (S13) and it is a RWD car.

Your'e thinking of the Silvia what she's talking about is a Sunny.

[donskar]

Strange, my son bought an old 200SX (S13) and it is a RWD car.

No, mine is a 14. Some sources say S14; some B14. From wikipedia:

In 1995, Nissan reintroduced the 200SX nameplate in United States and Canada to designate a two-door version of the Nissan Sentra (B14 chassis, a front wheel drive car), known in Japan and Mexico as Lucino, replacing the Sentra coupe and Nissan NX (discontinued in 1993).

[Dragonfly]

I see. Didn't take American market into consideration.

[Pieoter]

The Renaultsport Megane 265 Trophy is the fastest production FWD car and it doesn't have a rear wing.