[vasudeva]

My elder brother has just bought a Honda City. Going by my driving experience, I suggested him to get a spoiler installed. Also based on users' feedback, I feel the following things need to be addressed:
1. Wind effect at high speed.
2. Light steering
3. Somewhat bumpy ride.

My elder brother would like to prioritise his expenses now, and I would be grateful if members could advice if a rear spoiler would at least to some extent take care of wind effect at high speed (>80 kmph) and the pronounced road noise. A spoiler is expensive and better to know if it is a wise investment. Further, what to do with problems 2 and 3.

[Akshay1234]

a spoiler dosent affect the aerodynamics unless the car is at a moderately high speed like 180kmph. also if designed wrong it could be bad for your car. most spoilers are just for show on the road cars we see.

you cant do anything about the honda city's steering.

you can changed to better tyres. they would probably better the ride.


IMO - if you brother wants to do high speed driving then he shouldnt have bought the nhc.

[BUSA]

Spoilers give downforce but in speeds excess of 250kmph, so a spoiler on the NHC will do nothing other then giving asthetic value.

[Akshay1234]

Originally Posted by BUSA

Spoilers give downforce but in speeds excess of 250kmph, so a spoiler on the NHC will do nothing other then giving asthetic value.

less than 250 for sure. it would be around 160-180kmph. that when the automatic spoilers in cars like porsches come up.

[vasudeva]

Thanks. My brother is like me and does not exceed 100 in 95% of cases. Of course, City is not meant for constant 3 digit speeds. I guess he will then have to live with it Not even a Honda dealer fitted spoiler will help? I am not talking about these problems at 3 digit speeds but at reasonable 70-90 kmph speeds. Most of his driving is in Delhi traffic so that would be the max he is likely to reach.

Change the tyres: Not an option given that the car is out of the showroom now. Maybe after tyre replacement is due.

Finally, are these NHC problems there or is it something I experienced (wind noise at >80 kmph, road noise, and light steering). I advised him to go for NHC with high FE and expected Honda quality being the clinchers, in that order. That is the reason I feel bound to get something done on the noise and ride issues.

Light steering at high speeds was an issue in his earlier 2005 Zen also (in my 1999 Zen also) so it is not something not used to.

[Akshay1234]

the 3 things youve mentioned are common problems. the only way to improves stability between 70-90kmph would be a better set of tyres

[binz]

Change the tires,it will address the light steering and give the car a stable feel at speed.195 section tires should do the trick.

Spoiler wont help in any case,as all indian spoilers are designed for show.The gt-wings available for around 3-5k serve no purpose.

What do you mean by bumpy ride?Is the car bouncing or is the ride stiff and harsh?Check your tire pressures.

In all,better tires will solve all your problems

[vasudeva]

Thanks again. Better tyres not possible for 40-50K now. Consider my issues resolved (or not likely to be solved now). My brother is a sedate driver not likely to break any speed records and so he may not feel these problems much.

[GTO - Touring]

My elder brother would like to prioritise his expenses now, and I would be grateful if members could advice if a rear spoiler would at least to some extent take care of wind effect at high speed (>80 kmph) and the pronounced road noise.

An after-market spoiler will only be of aesthetic value. It has absolutely no other benefits. In fact, some of the larger ones can actually be detrimental to the high speed air flow.

Originally Posted by BUSA

Spoilers give downforce but in speeds excess of 250kmph, so a spoiler on the NHC will do nothing other then giving asthetic value.

Correct, but I'd say that applies only to the factory-fitted / professionally designed ones. For most after-market ones, read my reply to the first question.

I have driven some of my friends Honda Citys', Lancers and Balenos on the expressway. Two of them (with mega / widebody kits) actually behaved poorer than a stock car at 180 kph.

[vikram_d]

A spoiler can be designed to work at any speed. The only catch being the slower the speed the bigger the spoiler.

WRC cars use spoilers and the only average 120-140kmph and they have spoilers. I am not talking about top speed. I am talking about average speed over the race distance.

An F1 car averages 150- 160 kmph over a race distance and they have spoilers. (250kmph is a joke. Busa dude get your info right.)

@vasudev - Dude dont worry about the NHC handling it is absolutely fine. The bumpy ride must be due to over-inflated tyres as binz has pointed out.

I drove a NHC from Delhi till Manali and back and was constanly cruising at 100-120kmph with stock tyres.. Trust me it handles just fine. The steering is a little light and needs to get used to. Ask your brother to drive around for some time and he will get the hang of it.

PS: The automatic spoiler on the Porsche deploys at 120kmph (75mph). Please get your info right before posting nonsense.

[reignofchaos]

Just get rid of the stock tyres and go for something a bit wider with better quality.

[hellspawn]

Originally Posted by vikram_d

A spoiler can be designed to work at any speed. The only catch being the slower the speed the bigger the spoiler.

WRC cars use spoilers and the only average 120-140kmph and they have spoilers. I am not talking about top speed. I am talking about average speed over the race distance.

An F1 car averages 150- 160 kmph over a race distance and they have spoilers. (250kmph is a joke. Busa dude get your info right.)

@vasudev - Dude dont worry about the NHC handling it is absolutely fine. The bumpy ride must be due to over-inflated tyres as binz has pointed out.

I drove a NHC from Delhi till Manali and back and was constanly cruising at 100-120kmph with stock tyres.. Trust me it handles just fine. The steering is a little light and needs to get used to. Ask your brother to drive around for some time and he will get the hang of it.

PS: The automatic spoiler on the Porsche deploys at 120kmph (75mph). Please get your info right before posting nonsense.

Exactly,the spoliers need to be designed in a wind tunnel to make any sort of a difference.
And you are comparing a Road car with a wrc car/F1 car...

[vikram_d]

I was talking about 250 kmph and 170kmph. A spoiler can be effective even at 50kmph provided it is designed for it and for that particular car.

[BUSA]

vikram_d - If a F1 car averages 150-160kmph(actually it averages around 190kmph) then it must be hitting top speed in excess of 300kmph and there is where the Spoiler plays a important part. Also the cars you are getting in picture(WRC, F1) are having spoilers, because they are made keeping in mind that they are going to be driven above at high speeds. Also they are wind tunnel tested.

F1 cars weigh very less and hence are dependant on aerodynamics, a F1 car bottoms out on little uneven surface, a NHC doesnot!

Spoilers are for asthetic and do nothing to road cars, period.

[BlackPearl]

Originally Posted by BUSA

Spoilers are for asthetic and do nothing to road cars, period.

this line is not entirely correct, since I remember the Audi TTs were giving handling troubles at 150+ speeds and hence spoilers were added to them. Spoilers do come into effect in road going cars in speeds excess of 150 Kmph.