smokeydog001

I heard years ago the tailgate theory was actually tested at a wind tunnel facility at Arnold Engineering in Tennessee. Legend has it that the lowered tailgate does reduce drag. But, who knows? The facility isn't that far from Jack Daniels' place!

Hear's a piece of engineering marvel I found on Top Gear. www.ejstreasures.com/main.jpg

brnttoast

For our toasters being nothing but a box, their drag coefficient isn't as bad as one would think 0.35Cd.
Take a look at some cars that I wouldn't have thought would be draggy

0.36 - Eagle Talon, mid-1990s
0.36 - Honda Civic, 2001
0.36 - Ferrari Testarossa, 1986
0.33 - Subaru Impreza WRX STi, 2004
0.38 - Mazda Miata, 1989

Being Boxy aint all that bad =)

Info gotten from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drag_coefficient
http://reviews.cnet.com/2005_Scion_x...-31352563.html

knightlife

Thanks for all your help on this topic.

I was wondering if there was really any reason other then cosmetics to get a spoiler.

I was planning on doing a more sporty look with the spoiler , the windflectors with my gun metal color wheels.

Now don't flame me, but the other look I was going for is the more rugged looked with a roofrack that I know will cause a decrease in gas mileage. I will still have my gun metal color wheels and maybe the sporttrek roof rack to make it look more like a Subaru Forrester type of car

Thanks again
Knight

SquallLHeart

does no one watch mythbusters?? they made TWO.. yes TWO episodes about it..

tailgate down is by faaaar the worst.... causes major draaaaaaag.

smokeydog001

I guess the bottom line is: do you trust crack or Jack?

pooder

SOITANLY! It helps keep the back window clean!!

At least, that's how I justified it to my wife (and it might even be true ;^)

smokeydog001

Yeah, mine thinks the AC runs better because of the CAI! We do what we can.

JDMJim

So, wings don't work on MR cars? Why wouldn't a wing work on a FF car? please do explain. Cuz I removed my OEM wing from my old MX-6 and it was squirrly on the highway. true, they may look silly in excess on a street Haonda or any car for that matter. But in general, a wing on any car will stabilize the car a bit, FF, FR or MR. Even my xB is a bit more steady on windy days with my gigantic, ricer useless on an FF car wing.

snowromance

alot of people dont get it though. they see other cars with spoilers, think they look cool and get one for their car

vintage42

Like, my 1991 Mazda truck was rearended by a Mazda 626. The front of the car was pushed in and the hood buckled up. My bumper, trailer hitch and the panel under the tailgate were messed up. My tailgate was untouched.

TerribleTed

When the tailgate is down it goes forward when it gets hit. Ripping out both hinges, twisting the rear corner posts and likely damaging both bedsides, Of course it destroys the gate. All this hard to fix stuff for a minor hit that would have likely only damaged the bumper itself had the gate been up. gets worse with a hard hit because then the gate flys around and the bumper etc are still impacted.