Benefits from OEM chin / duck tail spoilers?

Brad Hawk · 06-18-2021, 09:59 AM

First, I'm not one of the Hawks that the 1st poster believes me to be. Actually, my name is actually spelled H-a-a-k, but it's pronounced "Hawk' so sometimes that's how I list myself online. Ironically, I have a brother who lives very close to the track outside Boise, ID (he lives in Eagle), but he's a complete non-gearhead. I'm on the other side of the country, in the Washington, D.C. suburbs.

Some older articles I found on vehicle aerodynamics let me to believe that anything you could do to reduce the amount of air getting under the front of the car would be a good thing (ground clearance permitting), and could help with keeping the front end from lifting on the big end, too. What I wasn't sure of is whether the OEM-type chin spoilers were physically large enough to be functional in that respect, or were primarily cosmetic add-ons.

I know the ducktail spoilers do "something", but what exactly -- and under what conditions -- I'm not sure. I did find it interesting that all of the Drag Pak Challengers have come with a front air splitter, but only the latest generation of the supercharged 354 version now has the ducktail spoiler, as well.

06-18-2021, 09:59 AM	#5
Brad Hawk Junior Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Posts: 21 Likes: 1 Liked 2 Times in 1 Post	Re: Benefits from OEM chin / duck tail spoilers? First, I'm not one of the Hawks that the 1st poster believes me to be. Actually, my name is actually spelled H-a-a-k, but it's pronounced "Hawk' so sometimes that's how I list myself online. Ironically, I have a brother who lives very close to the track outside Boise, ID (he lives in Eagle), but he's a complete non-gearhead. I'm on the other side of the country, in the Washington, D.C. suburbs. Some older articles I found on vehicle aerodynamics let me to believe that anything you could do to reduce the amount of air getting under the front of the car would be a good thing (ground clearance permitting), and could help with keeping the front end from lifting on the big end, too. What I wasn't sure of is whether the OEM-type chin spoilers were physically large enough to be functional in that respect, or were primarily cosmetic add-ons. I know the ducktail spoilers do "something", but what exactly -- and under what conditions -- I'm not sure. I did find it interesting that all of the Drag Pak Challengers have come with a front air splitter, but only the latest generation of the supercharged 354 version now has the ducktail spoiler, as well.