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It was only available from GM with the Z07 option. However, you can order it from the GM parts house, or there are aftermarket suppliers that also sell it. And if you do not have the Z06 spoiler there is one aftermarket supplier that has made one that attaches to the Z51 spoiler.
The reason it is used is it creates more rear down force. However, I am not sure if it does anything more than drag on a streetcar, but it looks good.
Thought of adding one until I found out you're looking at maybe two miles less/gallon. Not worth it just for looks...............................
Can you tell me where you got that info from? I have not been one for worrying about mileage on any of the Corvettes I have owned, but if that seems high.
Are you asking why they used a lip spoiler vs. a wing or why they used the multiple piece lip spoiler? The wickerbill, when talking about C7s, typically refers to the adjustable center clear piece on the Stage 3 version of the spoiler. Stage 1 is the base lip spoiler, Stage 2 adds the taller winglets and wickerbill sections on each end of the spoiler, Stage 3 adds the adjustable wickerbill between the Stage 2 winglets.
GM used a lip spoiler because it made it easier to access the cargo area. Having loaded items into the hatch of a ZR1 ZTK, you have to be much more careful and you really only have access from the sides. Even with the base ZR1 low wing, you have to be careful it is longer and sticks up higher than a Stage 3 Z06 spoiler and bumping it with cargo could mar or damage it. With any version of the lip spoiler, you are likely only going to mar the top edge of the lip during loading, not leave long scratches or damage across entire chord of a wing.
GM used a multiple piece lip spoiler to make it easily scalable at low cost. They were able to offer 3 stages of aero, and adjustable aero at the top stage, for much less money than it would cost to design and manufacture 3 different spoilers to accomplish the same thing.
The reason? I bet it has more to do with engineering of the rear bumper cover and hatch and lack of room for a normal looking base spoiler and practicality of using the rear hatch to put things in there without having an obstruction. If you look at the ZR1 spoiler you basically have to lift things up and over it to put anything in the car. For a track car it's fine but street car not so much. There is not really a ton of space on the rear facia for anything other than a blade/wicker spoiler.
It was an easy and low cost way for Chevy to vary the aero of the car. Stage 1 uses the short winglets, Stages 2/3 uses the taller winglets, and the wicker is the final piece for Stage 3. As for gas mileage, if your drive is stop & go city or suburban driving you're not really going to see a difference. If your daily drive is long distance highway driving at 70mph+....yes you'll see a bit of an impact. If the car is that much of a daily driver, use 89 octane and the lower cost will offset the loss of mileage. The car runs just fine on 89, that's why the PCM programming has high and low octane tables in it. Yes I know....blasphemy.
What you're referring to as a spoiler on the ZR1 is actually a wing. The ZR1 does have a short spoiler on the rear bumper cover with the 3rd brake light, but it gets its aero benefits from the wing (high or low depending on what option was chosen). The wing....particularly the high wing...makes it a PIA to put stuff into the cargo area since you have to go in from the side. I recall an "Ask Tadge" response that on the ZR1 they were all about performance so access considerations were secondary.
I guess because it was not the Z51, GS, or Z06 type, it doesn’t get much love, but some us Stingray owners who have the RPO SB3 wing spoiler think it’s pretty cool.
My car with the Stage 2 wickers from ACS and I bought the center bridge from EOS on eBay. The wickers came with the template for the center bridge and everything fits perfectly. You have to purchase longer bolts for the center bridge, as the ones from ACS aren’t long enough to work with the bridge. I bought longer bolts from my local hardware store. Also….I haven’t noticed any difference in mpg!
So you maintain some slight chance of seeing out the back?
I can see out the back window perfectly. There’s no difference, with or without the spoiler on the convertibles!
‘I wouldn’t know about the view difference in a coupe.
Rear wing makes more downforce and less drag, however wicker bill spoiler makes a tiny bit of DF and allows easy access to the trunk. Downforce needs to be balanced front to rear, so a stock corvette doesn't make much front downforce if any at all so the rear wing would make no sense. If you run a rear wing you need to balance the downforce on the front with a better and more functional splitter and undertray.
Obviously do what you want with your car, nobody else's opinion matters but if your looking for performance numbers downforce is a complicated thing with multiple factors thar are more than just this wing vs that spoiler etc.
I highly doubt that a wickerbill would cause any less fuel economy on the street
I've driven a C7 with and without the wickerbill on the highway before and you feel the added drag above around 70mph with the wickerbill and center piece in the highest position.
It might be tough to believe until you feel it yourself but it is true, it adds a decent bit of drag and reduces MPG.
I detest wickerbill spoilers....I'm not in NASCAR.
For those who like these spoilers, it's your car do what you want. IMHO, they really detract from the appearance of the C7.
On the positive side of the wickerbill spoilers, J C Whitney would be proud.
I highly doubt that a wickerbill would cause any less fuel economy on the street
It depends on how much downforce you wish to create. With the OEM Corvette offerings, they do.
Disclaimer: I am not an engineer, and this is a very generalized summary of my understanding of aerodynamics.
A wickerbill is a spoiler - "a barrier forcing air to flow over it, with no separation with respect to the car" (https://briankemerley.substack.com/p...poilers-part-1) which reduces lift and drag by separating the air flowing over the top of the car from the air flowing under the car, thus reducing the turbulent low pressure area (drag) that forms behind the car at speed, and generating downforce by creating a high pressure zone in the air flowing over the top of the car directly in front of the spoiler. Spoiler downforce is subject to diminishing returns, as, beyond a certain size and angle, they are so disruptive to the airflow that they create significant drag. A wing "is an inverted airfoil, separated from the car’s surface to allow air to flow above and below the element" (Id.) which own aerodynamic properties to generate downforce. Wings can be used to reduce lift or drag, but are far more efficient than spoilers at creating downforce with less drag. The ZR1, along with many other cars, such as 992 GT3RS, has a small spoiler beneath the wing to reduce lift and drag.
You can actually see the C7 spoilers in action below. I believe these pictures were taken at 185mph. The first picture has the Stage 1 spoiler, and you can see the air flowing directly aft from the top of the spoiler.
Compare that to the Stage 3 spoiler below, which is visibly disrupting the airflow, generating far greater downforce by creating a high pressure area right in front of it, but at the cost of creating a larger turbulent vacuum area behind the car and increasing drag.
As an aside, spoilers should not be confused with Gurney Flaps, specifically only work as part of an airfoil (wing) by altering the airflow over the top and bottom of the airfoil at the point where those two meet to increase its aerodynamic effect without changing the angle of attack. This is not how car spoilers work because cars do not taper to a single point the way an airfoil does.
In conclusion, when creating meaningful levels of downforce, a wing will be more efficient (less drag) than a spoiler, but a spoiler may also be included to reduce drag. (https://briankemerley.substack.com/p...poilers-part-2)
01-19-2024, 01:39 AM
why does c7 have wickerbill spoiler instead of regular spoiler?
