I have noticed that most people are placing their wings pretty high up to get them into cleaner airflow on the S and I was wondering if anyone has looked into adding a row of vortex generators along the back of their hardtop? I would think they would be pretty effective at bringing the turbulent flow closer to the trunk lid...

Any thoughts?

 

VGs tend to energize the boundary layer by entraining higher velocity air into it. Of course that causes drag.

I suppose you could try it and see, but what are you trying to do?

 

 

I realize that they cause drag, but for the most part their benefits outweigh the small amount of drag created-IF they are properly installed/designed.

My line of thinking is this:

In a typical S2000's track setup, there is a hardtop with a pretty tall wing installed. The wing is tall to keep the airfoil in "clean" airflow since there is a nasty low pressure area right behind the top creating all kinds of turbulent flow. The vortex generators introduce a turbulent boudary layer which helps keep flow from separating after the rear roofline. This, in turn, should reduce the need to have a wing mounted so high up.


At least that is what's going through my head right now...

 

The text is in Dutch but its all in the picture.
It worked for speed ice skating.
So well they got banned.
As far as I know.
They don't go that fast but they also don't have 240+ hp.
So every kW counts.

 

Those are trip strips, not VGs.

The difference is that trip strips are intended to make a laminar boundary layer flow turbulent. VGs will do that too, but they are really more intended to bring high energy flow into an already turbulent boundary layer.

 

funny u bring this up, I actually have a carbon fiber VG for an STI sitting in my garage that i was saving for when I got my hardtop

 

Mitsubishi published an interesting white paper on the topic for the Evo 7/8/9 chassis. The Evo has a tall greenhouse and a steep rear window and the VGs definitely help reduce drag *and* increase the effectiveness of the rear wing.

However, note that they tried myriad size/position combinations to find the optimum setup.

http://www.mitsubishi-motors.com/corporate...2004/16E_03.pdf

 

Setting aside for a moment the debate over whether vortex generators would allow you to run a shorter wing -- why is running a shorter wing desirable in the first place?

 

Cool paper