Quote:
Originally Posted by z28camaro2471
While weight and downforce aren't entirely mutually exclusive, adding 60 lbs of weight is not the same as adding 60 lbs of downforce. Weight is part of the object's mass that at speed will try to overcome the force of gravity. Downforce is an external force pressing down on the object. When downforce exceeds an objects gravitational pull it can overcome gravity. This is why a Formula 1 race car could theoretically run upside down. An upside down Suburban would have "upforce" equal to the objects mass and instantly crash to the ground with a force equal to 3 tons or so.
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Yes, thats kinda what I was trying to say but in a much better turn of phrase.
Also, adding weight tends to hurt handling because of the increased inertia, while aero downforce hold the car to the ground increasing its cornering ability.
Getting back on topic though, while cosmetic spoilers (ie 90% of those that you see on cars on the road) do still provide these bennefits to a small degree, they generally do not make a significant differance on things like a 124 hp Saturn