You know when you see those clowns driving their ride(s) with those ridiculous spoilers or "diffusers," and those fake splitters?
Well, it's all nonsense! Not only are most of those parts not even put through extensive research and development, but you have to keep in mind that most of the time they are simply adding weight.
Why else do you think these "performance-enhanced" vehicles wind up turning out slower times on the track and/or drag strip?
Hell, most of the time you do not even need that many drastic modifications to get what you need out of your beast. Take for instance this Sport Auto wind tunnel test.
Not only did the magazine put the BMW 335i and M3 through the ringer, they also got their hands on the Porsche 997 Carrera and a 997 GT3 RS. And when you compare the regular 997's numbers against the RS', the difference is clear.
Want to see something even cooler? Take a look at the Gumpert Apollo.
Talk about serious engineering...
**Take a look at the Sport Auto images of the wind tunnel testing down below
Got these from Sport Auto. It's pretty amazing that a magazine would spend the money for these data.
Anyhow it seems that the aerodynamic improvements on the M3 are actually quite significant:
Front Lift @ 124 mph:
335: 42 kg (93 lb)
M3: 10 kg (22 lb)
Rear Lift @ 124 mph:
335: 28 kg (62 lb)
M3: 23 kg (51 lb)
Note: these cars do not have the aerodynamic devices to actually create down force...
[Source: M3post]
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