I have a 91 firebird and im looking to put ground effects and increase the power speed anyone have suggestionas or where i could even look and i cant find any ground effects. thank you

 

What type of nose is on it now the gfx nose or non gfx nose.
What year ground effects are you looking for the 1991-92 areo style bird effects? Are you trying to increase the speed by using ground effects?

Dynodan

 

i am sorry but maybe you typed wrong but increase power and speed with graffix do our cars really look like honda's?

 

What our fellow third-genners are trying to say is that your post has two different topics in it. GFX are strictly an apperance mod(well 99% apperance, minimal aero), while increasing power requires completly different modification. When u post both those questions together in a forum about building parts, not finding them, us TGO folk tend to get a little snappy.

And yes, thinking body modifications make u go faster is a definate "ri(er" trademark. Have u ever bought a piece of candy or a tool that was really shiny and cool looking only to find out it tastes like crap or won't fit your project. sorry, just ranting bout those damn kids in their honda's.

 

I'm sorry I'm new to this. not trying to step on anyone's toes. i'm not looking for anything "bling bling" honda looking ground effects. I'm just looking for regular looking ground effects. I know you can pick up speed from ground effects before i looked at the site I wrote about the power(wanting to know what else i could do?) but then realized that there was more forums (DUHHH to me) sometimes im brain dead. So I apoligize my car is stock no ground effects on it it has a 305 engine in it the fiberglass paint is coming off the bumper so i was just trying to look for some ideas on where to look or what to do. thank you

 

Since this is a technical site, I'll try to remain completely technical.

There is a significant difference between ground effects, and the "aero trim" packages installed by GM on these cars. The factory "aero" packabes do nothing to enhance the operation of the vehicle, with the exception of the rear wing spoiler on 1985, '86, and '87 cars. These were actually functional pieces that provided downforce at elevated speeds. The rest of the years simply got a grocery cart handle/push bar like so many imports, and they do nothing but provide appearance and dead weight.

Also, the T/As that had hood vents and side slots did have some advantage from their use, but the factory went way too small with the ducts and openings to make them anything more than a trim package. The amount of air diverted by these undersized vents off the high pressure area of the hood and around the windshiled is minimal, and almost useless.

The side air skirts and front lower air deflectors were also nearly useless, since they still provided about 4" of clearance for air to intrude under the body. They may only do a little bit of aerodynamic good, if any.

That does not mean that true aerodynamic effect cant't be installed, but you won't have a lot of ground clearance when it's done. I installed functional air dams and skirts on mine, but you can see the potential problems:



And further, if you install truly functional ground effects, you will LOSE top speed. It takes power to move anything through the air, and increasing the frontal area and vacuum under the car will increase the power requirement. The big advantage to truly functional ground effects and wings is to provide downforce. This helps hold the vehicle to the pavement to allow better cornering traction at higher speeds. It doesn't increase speed at all, except the speed at which you can corner safely. Incidentally, the ground effects really don't provide much additional downforce below 70-80 MPH, so if you're wanting to go fast in a straight line and not so worried about cornering hard at 125 MPH, lose the ground effects. Better yet, get some of that dead weight off the vehicle and lose that factory trim package, as well.