As above, do they serve a practical purpose like more downforce or are they purely cosmetic

 

an old argument, some will say they are just cosmetic but my thoughts are that they must do something??!! why else would rally/racing teams fit them? splitters also serve a pupose (dont they??) remember the Top Gear BMW race (so funny) when the splitter came off? the lap times tumbled

flame suit on

steve

 

Try taking the rear wing off. Its a few bolts and 15 minutes, then go for a drive on the "B" roads and the motorway and see how it feels. Then put the wing back on and try it again..

 

I'll pass on that thanks hammer man ......... but take your point about the downforce

Besides downforce do they force any extra air over the brakes for example?

 

Ooooh, now thats getting technical.. I will have to pass on that one myself. Sure sombody on here will have some thoughts on this though...

 

It will have an effect, without having a look in a tunnel or these days you can use cfd, its impossible to say what the effect is, though it will be very small whatever it is.

Thinking back to aero lectures i think you can use wings like it has on the back to reduce drag, not just increase downforce, if you can get it positioned correctly in the flow, the main thing i remember about aero though is that its flipping complex making a change work!

The most benefit any of us will get is the cosmetic one, really i don't think with a road car like these having the wing on/ taking it off the car will react differently, though no doubt people would claim it 'feels' different to them, just because they know somethings been changed so they expect they should feel a difference and so they 'do'

 

On the road it probably has no effect whatsoever but if you then go to a twisty track where you are doing considerably more than the average road speeds and there will be a lot of difference between having one on and off

 

Is he not talking about the front 'winglets' on the front bumper by the fog covers ?

Spec C's don't have them.

 

i personally feel they are just cosmetic.

As above said, Spec-C dont come with them, nor did the Type RA classics etc.

I have had 2 impreza's without wings, and had no issues with handling, and that includes trackdays and at the Ring.

But like mentioned, bit of a can of worms, and lots of differing opinions.

 

plenty of Spec C's come with rear wings from factory albeit the low level ones and most RAs came with them too.Agreed there are a few exceptions where Spec C and classic RAs dont come with them but i think it was a factory option on a lot of them.The Spec C doesnt come with the front bumper winglets as the bumper is a WRX one as is the bootlid/spoiler but that wasnt the OP question

Just look at the banner at the top of the screen they are 2 spec c's with the factory optional carbon rear wing (on Type RA only iirc)

 

the winglets create turboulence to go around the wheels for better airflow. hows that for a textbook answer!

 

Anything as flexible as the standard fit STI wing can be of little aerodynamic benefit.

I have run my spec C with the low wing, carbon wing and no wing and have not noticed any difference in handling characteristics.

 

sorry everyone I mean the front winglets not the rear wing ........

 

 

Ner ner na ner ner !

 

ahh well if its about the winglets then yes there is a big benefit of having them...........they enable you to fit a nice front Splitter

 

tut tut, now look what you've done this thread will go on for days now

 

where would you rest your sarnies at car shows?????

surely my spoiler was designed for that purpose alone.....

 

A picture speaks a thousand words

 

yeah I thought that would have been obvious from an earlier post as how would airflow generated by the rear wing force air over the brakes

Still interested to hear your thoughts though please people ........