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Down Force And Your Ride

Down force is a much talked about entity in the auto industry. Ensuring that you have plenty of down force is the best way to ensure safety and proper traction at speed regardless of the performance modifications that you have made to your ride. There are numerous ways in which you can add down force to your car including rear spoilers and front air dams.

What is down force you ask? Basically it is a measure of the amount of pressure placed on the horizontal surfaces of your car while driving at speed. In layman’s terms it’s a measure of how well your car stays adhered to the road while driving really fast. Too much down force can result in lowered performance for your vehicle while insufficient down force will result in a loss of traction and reduced speed not to mention reduced safety.

So how do you ensure that you have the right amount of down force for your ride? Where should the majority of down force be located? There is any number of questions on the subject; unfortunately the answers will depend largely on what kind of car your drive and how you drive it. For instance a standard front wheel drive car requires more down force in the front than in the rear. That’s because the front wheels are the ones providing the propulsion. However you must also have sufficient down force in the rear or your rear end will break loose on the road sending you fishtailing down the road.

You driving habits will also play a large role in the amount of down force that you need. For instance if you never exceed 80 miles an hour a rear tail spoiler may be the only addition you need to make. Your front end already contains enough weight to hold it to the road. If you take your car to the track you’ll likely need to invest in a front air dam also called a front spoiler front lip dam and other terms. This will help improve the flow of air over your hood holding your front end to the road more tightly.

Do rear wing spoilers really provide any benefits? Surprisingly they do provide some down force for the rear of a car. However they provide no more down force than a more subtle spoiler in some cases they provide less. They are great for achieving a unique look though.

For a rear wheel drive vehicle it is vital that you have enough down force in the rear of the vehicle. This means adding a spoiler certainly. Drivers of rear wheel drive vehicles will find that they have more problems maintaining contact between the drive tires and the road simply because the rear of the vehicle is very light. Large spoilers are more effective thing Porsche and the whale tail spoiler for rear wheel drive vehicles simply because more down force is required. Rear wheel drive vehicles can also benefit from the addition of front air dams though it is far from necessary.

About the writer: Andy’s Auto Sport offers a full line of aftermarket automotive parts including body kits carbon fiber hoods and more. For more information visit Andy’s Auto Sport online.