Quote:
Dilinger said:
Carlos, "contraproductive" what do you mean aftermarket is good or not?
I could be interested in front lip but in a material thats soft and dont bearks in bumps..
You think that an aerokit adds weight to the car?
Counterproductive means instead of improving downfornce, it decreases it by hindering aerodinamic efficiency.
If you really want to improve aerodinamics the only safe bet IMO is the factory aerokit for the carrera, but in the 997 is not as necesary it seems as in the 996. The 997 has no lift already in stock form and also does not suffer from the "light front end" of the 996 carrera (some people complained that the front end of the 996carrera at speed felt somewhat light and unplanted, and not so with the aerokit). I do lots of high speed driving miles in my 996 and I wanted the aerokit and have it in my 996 but I'm not so inclined to do so in the 997S since it seems OK (though I will see for sure when I get my own). Besides, the low front bumper/lip of the aerokits is a pain in the butt in european cities and parkings and only worthwhile if its very necesary.
I don't think a factory aerokit adds much weight since the parts are plastic (I believe the rear 996 GT3 wing is fiberglass but I'm not sure) and only substitute parts that are already there in the stock car really but just with a different shape, except for the rear wing but since its fixed in the aerokit it doesn't need the lifting mechanisms either. So should be fairly similar weight I would think.
However, even though the "mass" of the car may be the same, the greater downforce of the aerokit is going to increase the "weight" of the car when at speed. There is greater push to the ground just like adding mass. But this "weight from downforce" has different connotations in performance that the "weight from mass". Its not a bad weight since it will only affect acceleration and top speed slightly (due to the increased drag from the greater downforce), but wont have other real bad negative effects of the "mass", like it will not hinder breaking ability (heavy cars are harder to brake) nor will it increase lateral weight/acceleration like mass does (heavy cars puish to the outside of the curve more so handle worse). But downforce will affect "balance" of the car and suspensions, etc. since it pushes down, so it has to be designed correctly and tested, thats the problem with aftermarket add ons.
Hmmmm... I don't know if I expressed myself correctly or it is a mess?