[STi_4_Daddy]

If weight saving is the reason for this thread of course along with functionality then keep the wing and get a braille battery... I know thats overall weight saving as opposed to rear/front weight distribution. But its a start. (Hence why I am all for retaining the wing)

[RFFG]

You won't lose hp...

That said, I love my cop magnet

[STi_4_Daddy]

Originally Posted by RFFG

You won't lose hp...

That said, I love my cop magnet

Exactly, its what makes an STI an agressive looking one.

[houseofsuffering]

Originally Posted by emkingsb

He's an idiot but keep the wing. Without it you'll look like one of the 800 fugly limiteds out there.

Limiteds and wingless are awkward looking at certain angles........I'll admit that. The wing seems to balance out the body lines of the car better than anything. Thats why I've got a trunk new Sti trunk and spolier coming to me at the end of this week!

But! Our interior blows your "normal Sti" interior away (except our slickery leather seats)

[La Mer]

So, get a lip, lower the front of the car, or both, and you have some serious downforce.

[STI_Mike]

not true i took mine off and it drove the same as when the wing was on.

[Draco-REX]

Originally Posted by La Mer

So, get a lip, lower the front of the car, or both, and you have some serious downforce.

Bingo! One thing about the STI and the big wing is that it is one of the few cars out there (that aren't low-slung sports cars with wind-tunnel designed bodies that cost 60K+) that *doesn't* lift at speed. The wing works. Lowering the nose makes a noticeable difference, so does adding a lip. Do both, and you'll probably be making downforce in the front as well. I remember reading about one lip that made the front go from lift to downforce just on its own.

As in prevous posts, the effects of the wing and increased downforce in the nose are not all that noticeable. You may find the car a little less stable on the highway without the wing, but not enough to matter. But if you do plan to hit a road course with your STI, you'll want the wing.

[Iguana]

It usually costs money to remove the wing unless you can do a trunk swap. I was thinking of going wingless and ordering another trunk + WRX spoiler for over a thousand (have to paint it which costs $$)...but then I came to my senses and realzied I adore the wing and I'd rather save the money. W/O the wing, teh car looks seriously unbalanced. Especially with that roof vane spoiler. The entire rear looks scuplted to fit the wing.

Also, the wing can double up as a bench to put food on at tailgating events.
It serves to attract attention (unwatned and wanted).
Who doesn't love tail(the wing)?
Its quite light actually.
Its quite flexible actually. So don't sit on it.

[La Mer]

Originally Posted by Draco-REX

Bingo! One thing about the STI and the big wing is that it is one of the few cars out there (that aren't low-slung sports cars with wind-tunnel designed bodies that cost 60K+) that *doesn't* lift at speed. The wing works. Lowering the nose makes a noticeable difference, so does adding a lip. Do both, and you'll probably be making downforce in the front as well. I remember reading about one lip that made the front go from lift to downforce just on its own.

It makes sense the way Prodrive lowered the RB car now doesn't it?

They lowered the front 30mm, and lowered the rear ONLY 10mm... Get that nose down to reduce lift/create downforce, or at the very least reduce drag under the car.

[La Mer]

Originally Posted by STI_Mike

not true i took mine off and it drove the same as when the wing was on.

Dude. So EVERYone is wrong, including engineers, because of what your butt felt while driving your car to work ? Come on Mike ...

[EK9 BEEZLER]

This is kinda off topic but I'm planning on either buying a trunk or swapping one and putting on a limited lip spoiler as well as lowering the car and adding a v limited front lip. that should decrease some of the lift in the front while decreasing the drag in the rear. I dont plan on RR my car, autox maybe but nothing where ill be going 90+.

[LeeC]

I'm wingless and I have noticed no negative effects. However I have not pushed the car to the point where that would be possible, I eventually plan on getting an APR wing though. I can say, when I removed my lip and plastic undertray I did notice a difference, especially at 80+, the car would slow down much much quicker when off of the throttle.

Lee

[Tortfeasor STi]

As has been pointed out the wing exists to create down force on the naturally lighter rear of the STi so that at track speeds you get noticeable downforce. But in order to do this the wing needs to have an adequate amount of moving air hitting it, hence why the top is so high. But this interference with the atmosphere increases a car's cd (coefficient of drag). Thus you are trading accelerative prowess for cornering force. For strait line acceleration its best to limit cd as much as possible so that horse power is spent accelerating and not fighting cd. One of the reasons the Veyron had to have 1000 hp is that its design had a very high cd and large amount of power was needed to achieve the goal of a 240mph street car. So its a trade off.

IMO though, on a street car its really only there for styling and homologation purposes (i.e. for street car based race classes that limit the amount of body mods that can be made). So if you don't like the look and don't plan on tracking the car on high speed courses, you will most likely never notice a difference.

[WRX4ME LE 482]

I know a guy with an 06 that swapped for a wingless trunk. He said him getting too much attention from cops was the reason.

He said he really didnt notice anything, but maybe control on the highway went town a little.

Ive never had problems controlling my car on the hwy, but Im curious what a winged car feels like if there's a diff.

BTW, he also put a huge bike rack on the back. Im thinking that might have something to do with the decreased handling...

[styx]

Originally Posted by emkingsb

Luckily for us the STI wing is based on aviation technology. It's designed to maximize downforce while minimizing drag. Ever look at an airplane wing? It's flat on the bottom and curved on the top creating lift...the STI wing is flat on top and curved on the bottom creating downforce. Without getting into a lecture on fluid dynamics this particular design =

^^^
This is correct. In fact, it's called Bernoulli's Principle. Picture this: two parcel's of air 'race' around the top and bottom of the wing. They both have to start and end at the same place. One of the parcels must travel a further distance (the wing is curved on one side). To achieve the further distance, the parcel accelerates. Since one parcel had to accelerate, a low pressure is formed. In the case of the STi wing, a lower pressure is created on the bottom of the wing. If there is a low pressure on the bottom, a high pressure must reside on the top portion of the wing. Air must travel from high to low pressure. This created pressure causes the questioned down force on the STi wing.

G'day