[EvilOne]

License Plates

Imagine many among you ask the same question. Why the STi Wing is so "subtle" :-? ? I've read the articles, listened to the rumors, watched rally car racing, had a few Corona's while I pondered this very emotional issue? Obviously this "STi Wing" draws strong feelings from most of us to the point of having a few expectant "STi Parents" plan exorcising the "STi Wing" from their newborns as soon as you get your STi delivered by the dealer. Yes, to some the rear end looks better without the "STi Wing", to others the "WRX Wing" trade will be the way to go, and the aftermarket world will offer additional possibilities... :roll: but the question remains, why the wing in our beloved STi's is so "subtle."

I know the Subaru STi engineers and designers are a bunch of extremely talented professionals to pull all kind of tricks and make this car real, so there has to be a reason for it. Since I'm a mad scientist and a crazy analyst (not an engineer) I studied the possible effects and utilities of this "STi wing and came to one possible theory .

The "STi Wing" provides lift and stability while the STi is flying :wink: !

So do not remove the "STi Wing" if you plan to go "Flying" with it! Doing so might bring terrible consecuenses . Any engineers out there that can add to this "mad scientist" post are more than welcome! Don't waste your time attacking the "mad scientist", I know I'm a "Socially Functional Psyco" and in today's world...thats OK Take care, Evil One :evil: .

 

[Agent Chobos]

The "STi Wing" provides lift and stability while the STi is flying :wink: !

Not lift, downforce. The opposite of lift. You definitely do NOT want a wing that provides lift...

 

[darwood]

The "STi Wing" provides lift and stability while the STi is flying :wink: !

Not lift, downforce. The opposite of lift. You definitely do NOT want a wing that provides lift...

You do want a wing that provides lift if you want to fly, but then it's not so much a car as it is an airplane.

 

[Marine06]

To me (and im sure to traffic officers), the STI wing is the opposite of subtle. I wouldn't want to have anything other than an audacious wing to coincide with the beast that is the STI.

Plus, like the others have been saying, it provides a significant amount of downforce at higher speeds.

 

[Wrex-man]

Im ripping the wing off as soon as I get the car. Ill hardly be rallying on the street, and there are more subtle, less conspicuous, and far more clever ways to make downforce on the back. I think the wing is too flashy for my personality. im all ablout subtlety. i want a sleeper

 

[CloNeGTS]

Sleeper....STi.....hmmmm....you've got more problems than just the wing.

Don't touch the wing guys. You'd be surprised what a well designed wing like that will do for the feeling of a car at highway speeds.

Whether you will be rallying or not, you will be messing with the complete aerodynamic package of the car at speed. Racing or cruising to the grandparents place, the car will feel different.

Question the effects? Yeah, go do that hand out the window trick for a while. Now make your hand twice as wide, 3.5 feet long, hold it at the right angle and mount it over the rear tires where you need it. Wings like that, and yes, even the park bench wings, were developed for a purpose.

 

[Wrex-man]

questions on headlights

I agree, they do have a purpose, but not with low speed cornering, unless they are those ridiculously huge drifter wings, hehe. All im saying is that there are other ways to put downforce on the rear end without a spoiler. You certainly wont get as much downforce as a huge wing could do, but you can keep the stock downforce levels without a spoiler, IMO. My friend hopefully will sponsor my STI and design a rear underbody spoiler and 70 degree cap on the back end. if its engineered correctly, there will be same downforce as stock, with a much more subtle, stealth look. hopefully. Anyhoo, if it doesnt make as much downforce on the back, ill put a smaller spoiler on it so that It will make up the difference. For me, using a wing to make downforce instead of by other means is the easy way out. Rally cars NEED the wing on the top because of stability, and because of the chance that if they did have an underbody spoiler, itll get smashed up. I doubt ill take my car offroad more than a couple times, and i certainly wont be rallying. My car will be optimised for the street and strip (when i get enough money), so I dont need a gigantic wing. This is just a personal preference. keep in mind, ferrari's and all the really high end supercars tend to not have wings, because thy utilize downforce tunnels and what-not integrated into the chassis. I like cleverness. BTW, can anybody suggest a good aftermarket spoiler? :wink:

 

[CloNeGTS]

If you're really that hard core against the wing, best of luck with getting the suck under the car to the levels of the push from above. You really need to see some wind tunnel tests to see how much air is allowed under the car before you can count on that air to pull the car down.

With the car lower, you may run into issues like that. And of course, allowing more air under the car had better be dealt with seriously as that can lead to some high speed issues.

Remember....it is an Impreza, not an F1 car.

 

[murley]

Guys, I'll try to find some engineering information about the spoiler and why they put it there.

 

[Zapix]

I'm a 2002 WRX owner... I have the 22B replica wing, and have a problem with it cracking.

1. Any of you guys know exactly what the STi wing is made of, and how the structure/build quality is?

And anyone who's looking to get rid of it, I might be very interested in buying it!

If I'm not wrong, Subaru didn't change the trunk design, and the STi wing should fit in the stock holes.

 

[Wrex-man]

I know its an impreza, but it SHOULD be an F1 car too!!!

 

[Marine06]

Zapix, go to the "Stuff for Sale" section of this forum and post your question on whether anyone has a wing for sale.

You can also try these sites:

http://www.vividracing.com/prod_stibody.php
http://www.scoobyworld.co.uk/trolleyed/

 

[Zapix]

Will end up doing so if I can't get my hands on one locally. A member of NASIOC, so I'm gonna try and get one from one of the NESIC guys (probably Western Mass) before I have one shipped. Always good to know there's a STi owners source though!

 

[MKIVSupra]

Didn't someone say the STi wing is held on by like 11 bolts or something and the stock WRX wing uses less than half that? You might want to make sure you don't need a whole trunk lid or be prepared to fill some holes. Actually you might have to make sure that the ones you have on the WRX wing even line up with any of the holes from the STi wing.

 

[CloNeGTS]

Yeah, it's sounding like the STi-WRX wing swap will be a whole trunk lid affair. And at this point, we are only speculating that they have the same shape/structure. I don't see why they'd change it, but their might be more support for the wing....different springs for the extra weight....who knows.

 

[murley]

They won't change them. That would probably be your best bet..., espically if you could find someone with a WRX that want's to swap with ya!!!

 

[shoeeater]

In my opinion I have heard enough from people who do not like the enormous wing that there is going to be a big enough demand to create some serious afermarket parts to make up for it in a less "hey look at me" kinda way. It is not my style at all....I am more a "talk less, then kick the crap out of you" kinda guy. The wing has grown on me though, we will have to see what I do later with the whole wing thing.
One thing is for SURE though, anything that is PINK (logos) on the car that I can easily remove and replace is coming off ASAP. My G/F's family owns a sign shop that makes the same kind of vinyl lettering found on cars. I am going to create some kind of classy looking silver STi logo to replace the ones that are already on there.

 

[4MLA1FN]

you could probably make a couple bux selling those on the forum.

 

[STi2001]

It's kind of strange, the STi comes only with one wing, but you can order an EVO without the huge wing, makes ya wonder if the EVO handles that differently with the "other" wing on it. I wonder if it makes the rear of the EVO look any better, besides the ricetezzas.

 

[RaceEngineer]

Ive been running racing cars with wings for YEARS. Real racing cars like vintage formula one cars, GTP, 2 liter Formula Fords & Formula Mazda's, not front wheel drive imports maquarading as "racecars". I had an opurtunity to take a close look at the wing at Big Valley Subaru in SoCal yesterday. I even went so far as to get out my calipers and take a few rough measurments of the profile. These are my findings: The wing on the WRX STi is about as aerodynamically useful as the shopping cart handle my wife insists it resembles. I for one will be removing it, even if I have to fill holes or have my fiberglass guy make something more subdude that will cover all the holes. In fact maybe I will convert the original wing into & high tech rack for my bicycles