Installing rear spoiler: dealer, independent shop, or DIY?

I'm in the no spoiler camp I'm afraid. Most of the time they will slow your car down if anything. The thought of taking a drill to the sheetmetal and the rust factor gives me the willies. Do some thinking, maybe you should go for some spinners for the wheels. Or is that too jumping the shark? :scared:
 
Ben Kenobi said:
I'm in the no spoiler camp I'm afraid. Most of the time they will slow your car down if anything. The thought of taking a drill to the sheetmetal and the rust factor gives me the willies. Do some thinking, maybe you should go for some spinners for the wheels. Or is that too jumping the shark? :scared:
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Slow my car down why? Aren't most factory spoilers designed with aerodynamics in mind? Or are they for looks only these days? :(



I still think it looks nicer with the spoiler...but I'll be thinking about it a lot. I am considering forgetting about it, and I'll just get my next car with every option I'm looking for.
 
White95Max said:
Slow my car down why? Aren't most factory spoilers designed with aerodynamics in mind? Or are they for looks only these days? :(



I still think it looks nicer with the spoiler...but I'll be thinking about it a lot. I am considering forgetting about it, and I'll just get my next car with every option I'm looking for.
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Ahhhh! Get it! It looks way better with it. Looks a little too plain in the rear without it IMO. And if it slows your car down, no offense but it wont really matter too much. Besides it cant weigh any more than 20lbs and thats .02 seconds in a quarter and if there is any drag from the spoiler it cant be anything noticable at all. So at the very most it will slow you down .05 secs in the quarter and that is nothing, unless your in the 9s.
 
Pontman43 said:
Looks a little too plain in the rear without it IMO.
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That's how I feel too.



Pontman43 said:
So at the very most it will slow you down .05 secs in the quarter and that is nothing, unless your in the 9s.
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I can assure you I'm not anywhere near the 9s. :)
 
Does somebody have a pic of this car with the spoiler in question? It'd save me searching all over those Mazda sites (but thanks for posting them, I joined the Mazda Forum not that I plan to spend much time there).



My general problem with spoilers is that they don't conform to my "form follows function" aesthetic (plus they often look like a tacked-on afterthought). But I will say that some vehicles do look better with them; my MPV just looked *wrong* without one so I weakened and had one installed. IMO the MPV looks better with one, so I'd like to see what the Protege looks like with one.



But yeah, they'll generally *cost* a little performance but (if functionally designed) give greater high speed (i.e., well over 100 mph) stability. Most cars don't have such terrible rear end aerodynamics that they need a spoiler to cut through the air cleaner (quite the opposite- spoilers usually add drag as Sectec said) so all it can help with is rear end lift at very high speeds. Heh heh, poorly designed spoilers can even make such things *worse*, causing high speed instability.
 
Bingo! :woot2:



What's wrong with that? That'll look killer on your car! You'll blow the doors off of any rice, I mean import, that'll dare challenge you.
 
Heh heh, those silly wings are still all the rage around here :rolleyes:



White95Max- Honest to god I think your car would look better without that spoiler you linked to (the one in the AutoTrader). Plus it'd be a pain to detail under.



OK, I'll keep my conservative old-guy comments to myself now. A guy I know once said that I have the automotive styling sense of a constipated German banker :o But he had gold wheels and curb feelers (and even more weird stuff) on a Lincoln Towncar so I guess it's all relative.
 
Accumulator said:
OK, I'll keep my conservative old-guy comments to myself now. A guy I know once said that I have the automotive styling sense of a constipated German banker :o But he had gold wheels and curb feelers (and even more weird stuff) on a Lincoln Towncar so I guess it's all relative.
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I guess I'm your younger conservative counterpart :chuckle: And I had curb feelers on a flawless, mint condition, smooth as silk 1982 Buick Park Avenue that my brother crashed :mad:
 
I've honestly got mixed feelings about the spoiler after thinking a lot about it. Like you brought up Accumulator, it would definitely make detailing tough around the spoiler. I can remember trying to polish around the spoiler on the Maxima, and trying to wash around the pedestals with QEW. That was a bit of a PITA.



I'm now leaning more toward getting the OEM fog lights installed first thing in the springtime. That should satisfy your "form follows function" rule right? :)

I like how the front end looks with the OEM fogs, and it'd be nice to have some extra lights on the front for added visibility, both to see the road ahead, and to make me more visible in inclement conditions.



I still have to do more thinking about the spoiler though...
 
White95Max said:
I'm now leaning more toward getting the OEM fog lights installed first thing in the springtime...I like how the front end looks with the OEM fogs, and it'd be nice to have some extra lights on the front for added visibility, both to see the road ahead, and to make me more visible in inclement conditions....
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Now you're talking :xyxthumbs I'd even consider putting them on before winter if $ allows.



The factory fogs on the MPV don't light up things all *that* well and I can't find a way to adjust them (the dealership guys just :nixweiss ). But they're still better than nothing in some conditions.



What's *really* called for isn't available AFAIK- a *rear* foglight so people don't rearend you. On the Audis, it's basically an extra-bright taillight on one side. Does give me peace of mind.
 
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