So when you play games (say Forza Horizon) and you see the more high end sports cars have spoilers that move up and down when it comes to high speeds and breaking instead of being static. Why do some cars do this? What’s the benefit to the engineering behind it?
In: Engineering
Lots of explanations on here but none ELI5, so here it goes:
The job of the spoiler is to push the back of the car down against the pavement. The more the spoiler points up, and the more air going over it (at higher speeds); the more the spoiler pushes down. This has a side-effect called drag, where a pocket of low air pressure forms behind the car, pulling on it, and preventing the car from going faster.
Sometimes you really want to push those tires down, like braking and turning so you don’t slip. Sometimes you want to get rid of that pocket of low air pressure for higher speed. Sometimes you want it up a little at high speed to prepare for the turning and braking ahead. An onboard computer decides what angle is best for the spoiler to get the right balance of downforce/drag.
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