Nose Cone Aero Whiskers

[SK400]

Friends,

In the continued pursuit of trying to correct high speed understeer, I decided to try to a pair of those nose cone carbon fiber aero whiskers (normally installed on R500's / 620's and CSR's from factory). Any guidance on where to install on the nose cone and at what angle of attack? Haven't found much on the web in terms of instructions etc.. thank you very much in advance.

[xcarguy]

Seb,

 

When I was researching front wing ideas for my Storker (which I'll be revisiting again in the near future now that Mother Earth has removed a large part of it :jester: ) I ran across a few photos or cars with whiskers installed. Some are obvious in the phots, some are not. Regarless, these may give you an idea on how to mount a pair to your car. :cheers:

 

 

 

[scannon]

Mine came with a template for mounting the whiskers, last photo above. The whiskers were developed during wind tunnel testing (really!) some years ago. The addition of the whiskers and the CSR chin spoiler moved the scary speed from 120 to 135 MPH.

 

Yes, I know the front tire is mounted in the wrong direction, we had that conversation here years ago.

Edited March 22, 2015 by scannon

[Paul Hill]

Shane:

Maybe you should keep your feet firmly planted for the foreseeable future.... Mother Nature is not in your corner at the moment. If you figure out what you did to deserve such a shunning please let the rest of us know so we can avoid such transgressions!

[Croc]

Hi Sebastien

 

The purpose of the whiskers is not to cure high speed front end left. What they are intended to do is reprofile the air flow between the wishbones (which is all confused and turbulent) and direct it above the upper wishbone. I guess this is so you with scythe through the air cleanly at big speeds.

 

My car photo with them:

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a354/mjohnson555/seats/CSR/Colorado%20April%202011/DSC_5412_edited-1.jpg

 

 

 

I explored a range of options, even to the extent of putting my car in a university wind tunnel (in addition to the usual standard CSR aero tweaks) The fixes that are relevant to you were:

- Add the CSR double chin as this stops the lift effect from air running under the reverse sloping underside of the nose cone - a photo up in Shane's post of Skip's blue SV shows it)

- for track work use the aeroscreen as this brings the center of pressure slightly forward on the car (whereas the windscreen acts as one big rearward biased wind brake/spoiler)

 

We experimented with a front spoiler but then that screwed up the rear so that then needed its own spoiler at which point it became a pain to dial in exactly how much spoiler was needed to get the center of pressure fore/aft juuuuuussst right. At this point the car became somewhat stupid looking and was getting away from the pure look that attracted me to a seven in the beginning.

 

So I chatted with a variety of top race drivers in the UK and discovered their secret - a good 4 wheel set up and corner weight (with driver only) with adjustable rear perches, a minute lift or left foot tap of the brakes at the turn in point to get the weight forward just enough for tires to bite, and big balls. I can attest they work.

 

13 inch wheels and sticky rubber also improved things on my CSR. My maroon Caterham now has adjustable Penske shocks fitted and you can use the adjustment to soften the rear and give a bit better weight transfer.

 

Did you ever get the corner weighting done with just you loaded up as driver? That will have a 1000 times more improvement than some chin whiskers.

[slomove]

Driver and passenger could hold the hand outside the cockpit ind tilt it down a little for adjustable downforce :jester:

 

But I guess removing the headlight would have much more aerodynamic effect than the chicken wing.

[xcarguy]

Driver and passenger could hold the hand outside the cockpit ind tilt it down a little for adjustable downforce :jester:

 

 

 

That would work as long as Seb is doing the passing, but imagine the confusion during a point-by. :ack:

[SK400]

Guys

Thanks a ton for the insights and pictures. Mike I guess it makes sense that these whiskers are more about redirecting airflow above the top wishbones than exerting downforce of some sort. Looks like they are mounted with a 30 degree ish angle with the top of the whisker aligned with the top mounting of the wishbones (Xcarguy's picture).

 

Mike, yes, I had my car corner weighted by George Alderman. I still feel I m running high in the back, I may have to adjust my rake angle but that's a different story. I'm also swapping my windshield for an aersoshield which should help with top end. I was hitting 7300 rpm (or ~124 mph with my six speed) last yr at the end of the straight on the lightning track. I'm curious to see what removing the windshield and adding the whiskers will do in terms of top end (assuming same exit speed form the Bowl)

[simon450]

I just got an installation template for the Aero Whiskers from Caterham. If I was smart enough I'd post it here.

Also I was trying to contact the Adrenaline Gallery to buy the license plate holder but the phone numbers out of service and the website doesn't work. Are they still in business?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Kitcat]

Seb: Be prepared with a different in-car experience with the areoscreen. At speed, it can feel like your helmet is getting pulled straight up and off. Maybe an areo helmet wld help? If I scrunch down it helps. Neither of our heads sticks that far up, thanks to out Colin Chapman-esq heights:), but it is an issue at top speed in my Cat (which is abt 5 mph less than your 124 mph on Lightening).

[SK400]

Love it. I can't wait to have my neck elongated. It will be like having a Thai massage at 120 mph. I remember someone telling me that driving a Caterham would be a new life experience.