To Splitter or Not to Splitter...

[Squerly]

So what is the purpose of that piece of hard plastic that wraps around the front of the car? And does anyone know why Panoz never put a splitter on these cars?

[NZGTRA17]

I am very interested to hear some other owner views on this as well. I am not convinced that the current plastic 'air dam' is of much real benefit. It will help prevent some front end lift by reducing the airflow under the car, but at the cost of increased drag and without any of the benefits that a splitter and undertray could provide (additional downforce without generating as much drag).

I think that a good steer for us on this issue is to look at the Panoz GTLM race cars (I have some good shots of the 'Elan Motorsports' cars). They have an attractive (and one would suppose functional) splitter arrangement. This is on a front end quite similar to that on our cars, although I would note that it ties into the wheelarch flares as well.

Consequently I have been contemplating having a mold made to produce a splitter arrangement that would replace the plastic dam. Intention would be to have this attached by dzus fasteners as this would make trailering a whole bunch easier as well compared to the present arrangement.

What are other owners thinking on this?

[wirewheel99]

A flexible plastic strip stands upto curbs a lot better than a fiberglass splitter. After all these cars were built for schools and a spec series.

James
wirewheel

[Cobra4B]

^ I agree... sure a splitter would be better, but these things were built to be robust and easy to repair.

[NZGTRA17]

Agree that when the GTRA's were built that durability would have been King. Not so sure that there is any great benefit though as I have broken the air dam on my car both times that I have tracked it. Admit it is easier to repair though.............!!

By the time the GTS rolled out, the car was aimed at a different market and now foots it with Porsche GT3's in SCCA GT2 racing at regional and national level. It surprises me that the GTS did not get a more upmarket frontal aero package to help with the task.

[Blue Streak 21]

I have thought that a splitter up from would look very cool. I really like the way the ALMS cars look with the splitter.

I wonder about the necessity? Any idea on the amout of down force that a splitter would generate? The car is pretty balanced as it exists now, and unless you're on very fast tracks, I don't see a lot of added down force on the front end coming from a splitter at the tight tracks I drive at in the southwest.

Wouldn't the splitter need to be made out of fairly stiff and durable materials to transfer the down force to the structure of the car? Isn't that why most splitter are made from CC? Expensive testing would be required to determine the effect of the splitter and how to balance with the rear wing.

I still think it would add a ton to the already good lines on the front of the car. What I'm saying is that it might be looks over functionality.

[Squerly]

I checked with John at PAD regarding the design and installation of a splitter and here is his response.

It would cost a fortune to have a custom one molded so alternately you would probably have to look at having one fabricated by someone like Jason at Tubularfab.com. It may also be possible to modify one of our GT-2 parts, which aren't cheap, but we would have to do some design work to mount it correctly. Attachment points are crucial for it to actually work properly.

I'll let you know what size of second mortgage you'll have to take out for one of these babies once I hear back from John.

[eric1h]

not sure about the splitter but I'll be fabbing up a flat bottom panel kit to close off all the under carriage soon!

[Blue Streak 21]

Originally Posted by eric1h

not sure about the splitter but I'll be fabbing up a flat bottom panel kit to close off all the under carriage soon!

I can see where that would be helpful. Getting some ground effects to keep the car glued to the track. Awesome idea.

[Squerly]

I spoke to John at Panoz Auto Development about creating a splitter, here is what he came up with.

I took a look at our GT-2 front splitter (it’s a $3,000 part) and I don’t think there is any way to make it look acceptable because of the differences in shape between an Esperante bumper (it has 3 peaks) and the GTS bumper. Designing and custom molding one would be extremely expensive, on the order of $12,000+ so the most practical option is to design and fabricate one from a pre-fabricated carbon or aluminum honeycomb panel and Jabroc strips. This method would come in right around $5,000 for a one off. After the first one was done I believe they could be replicated for under $2,000. The materials are just so expensive that, short of making it out of plywood, I don’t think it can be done for any less.

If we had other inquiries about such a part, we would consider absorbing the cost to design and develop it. Unfortunately yours is the only inquiry we’ve had to date so you would have to carry those costs. Let me know if you need any additional information.

OK folks, there you have it. The first one's 5K and each one after that is 2K. So to get the price anywhere even close to being reasonable we need to purchase at least 4.

1 - .$5,000.00
2 - .$7,000.00
3 - .$9,000.00
4 - $11,000.00

$11,000.00 / 4 = $2,750.00 apiece

I'll spend $2,750.00 for one... are there 3 other people out there that would too?

On another note... I'm not sure what adding a splitter to our cars would do to their classifacation. Perhaps someone who has more knowledge of these things can chime in.

And on a second note... I really not smoking anything over here. I know there's a slim chance that there are 3 other people out there that don't have a better use for their $2,700.00. But keep it in mind. (just in case you all happen to pick a lucky scratch-off on the way home tomorrow)

[Blue Streak 21]

So that's seriours $$$. Not crazy high, but a chunck of change nonetheless. Yeah it will make the car look awesome, no doubt.

How will it increase performance? Do you think you'd get $2 k worth of performance for the addition of the splitter? I put about $2 k into my engine with a new set of aluminum Canfield heads, roller lifters, a Ford Racing B303 cam, Typhoon intake manifold, and a 75 mm throttle body. It improved my lap times by about 1.0 second.

Is the increased down force from the splitter capable of improving lap times of this same order of magnitude?

[Blue Streak 21]

So that's seriours $$$. Not crazy high, but a chunck of change nonetheless. Yeah it will make the car look awesome, no doubt.

How will it increase performance? Do you think you'd get $2 k worth of performance for the addition of the splitter? I put about $2 k into my engine with a set of aluminum Canfield heads, roller lifters, a Ford Racing B303 cam, Typhoon intake manifold, and a 75 mm throttle body. It improved my lap times by about 1.0 second.

Is the increased down force from the splitter capable of improving lap times of this same order of magnitude? I'm not an aerodynamisist, so I have no way to assess the gain from the splitter.

[Squerly]

Originally Posted by Blue Streak 21

How will it increase performance? Do you think you'd get $2 k worth of performance for the addition of the splitter? I put about $2 k into my engine with a set of aluminum Canfield heads, roller lifters, a Ford Racing B303 cam, Typhoon intake manifold, and a 75 mm throttle body. It improved my lap times by about 1.0 second.

Is the increased down force from the splitter capable of improving lap times of this same order of magnitude?

I don't know if it will help your times or not, but as I strive to build the perfect car (in this case the perfect GTS) I look at my cars improvements/modifications as a work in progress that is actually never finished. And a lot of the things I change or add aren't necessarily huge time shavers by themselves, but added to the whole of the car make it just a little bit better.

And this splitter is one of those things that I would like to add, as is the flat bottom panel kit that Eric1h is talking about. I don't have the benefit of the studies that Panoz must have done on this subject, but I really believe that the combination would be beneficial to these cars.

Now if I can just find 3 other nut cases who feel the same way...

[Panoz26]

Originally Posted by Squerly

I don't know if it will help your times or not, but as I strive to build the perfect car (in this case the perfect GTS) I look at my cars improvements/modifications as a work in progress that is actually never finished. And a lot of the things I change or add aren't necessarily huge time shavers by themselves, but added to the whole of the car make it just a little bit better.

And this splitter is one of those things that I would like to add, as is the flat bottom panel kit that Eric1h is talking about. I don't have the benefit of the studies that Panoz must have done on this subject, but I really believe that the combination would be beneficial to these cars.

Now if I can just find 3 other nut cases who feel the same way...

Eric and I definately feel the same way....but, we are going to attempt our own fabrication - tray for sure, splitter may be another subject (I can't stomach 2K on a splitter)

[wirewheel99]

We have a track car called a JP1 built by Palmer Sport www.palmersport.com in the UK that uses a Jag engine..anyway the splitter on the front carries on back to make a flat floor in the front of the car.

It is made of MDF-medium density fiberboard- and the outer sections have thick carbon fiber on top. It is all mounted to the car rather than the nose and is strong enough to stand on. Don't foget F1 cars use wood underneath as rubbing strips.

Something similar to the pic below should be easy to make and mount on a Panoz.

The biggest expense is the wind tunnel!!!

James
wirewheel