If it's a sedan, all it does is make you look like a tard.
If it's a sports car that needs it, all it does is make you look like a rich tard.
But if it is a racing car and you look like this guy, you should be all set
dude, get a sense of fun, will yeah?
By spoilers do we mean spoilers? or wings? spoilers (or lips) ARE effective at reducing lift thats created by having they air shoot directly downwards after they cars backside (caused by the vacuum at the back of the car), and it can effect stability at even 40mph
The original Lotus Elise is a decent example, the rear spoiler IS NOT for looks, they actually had a pretty bad argument about it, but it was decided that the car was too unsafe at speed without the spoiler, so how big is this lip? not big at all
reducing turbulence can also effect fuel economy, so some wings have been noted to actually do a slight increase on highway fuel mileage, slight, but still existent.
When the Koenigsegg CCX went around the track, Jeremy daid that it needed a spoiler. But in a TG article that I read, they said that it was all down to the suspension setup etc. I guess that spoilers aren't always neccesary.
yes but that spoiler WAS necessary, if it did nothing it wouldn't have decreased the top speed by 10mph, so it obviously does at least prevent lift, which is actually much more important in a road car then producing down-force.
Other examples? The current STis wing is actually effective, and it doesn't even look like much
We also had a discussion about wings with the old mki MR2s back when i owned them, finally one of the race-car drivers decided to take his off, and the car not only didn't pick up any top-speed, but it became much less stable at 120mph, this spoiler, like the others i've posted, is not big or mean, but it is effective.
furthermore we had a guy by name of Deno Plumley with actual access to a wind-tunnel, he did some tests on the MR2 and found by placing the wing back he could actually go from preventing lift to producing rear downforce. heres what his mod looks like.