Fuel Economy Tip - Avoid the Spoiler
May 24th, 2006 | by Brian Carr |Today’s tip may or may not be able to help you out, but if it can, it’ll help you save a bunch of cash.
If you can help it, avoid having (or adding) a spoiler on your car.
Look, I know this isn’t going to help you if you have a car that already has one, but maybe this will help dissuade you from getting a car with a spoiler or adding one to your car.
The basic function of a spoiler is to add downforce to your car to help improve handling at high speeds, so at it’s very nature, having a spoiler will hurt your fuel economy.
Much like when you have your sunroof or windows open, a spoiler adds a lot of drag to your car, which, as I’m sure I’ve made you aware, drastically reduces your vehicle’s gas mileage.
So, if you can avoid buying a car that’s got a spoiler, or can avoid putting one on your car when you “trick it out,” you’ll save a bunch of money.
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2 Responses to “Fuel Economy Tip - Avoid the Spoiler”
By Ryan on Sep 28, 2006 | Reply
Modern spoilers in 99% of todays cars produce NO downforce at all… most actually do help fuel economy slightly by straightening the turbulent vortex rolling off the back of the car. less turbulence = less drag. (i’m talking about low profile factory OEM spoilers, not the park bench things some people have.)
By brian on Apr 21, 2008 | Reply
I took the factory spoiler off my car and saved 10 lbs of dead weight plus the air drag. a totally useless item for daily driving. if you can lower your front end by a couple of inches it will reduce drag by pushing more air over the car instead of under it.