rear wings

[BLINGMW]

and it might have reinforcements that protrude through the glass and to the chassis... we really can't tell from that picture.

it doesn't! Those metal straps are it. And they look just like the ones the Bimmerworld cars have (and many other cars), and they DEFINATLY won't support much weight at all.

...I imagine all of those race cars have rear wings to change the air flow characteristics of the stock car so that there is less drag holding the car back.

I kind of doubt it. I'm not convinced about what Evan said for the hatches (could be true, I've just never heard of it), but for the most part, these are actual WINGS, not spoilers. They are designed just like a wing, but upside down. I'm far from an expert, but that shape is used to produce downforce and unfortunatly drag. I don't think they'd be that shape if they were trying to reduce drag. And hanging anything that large out in the airstream is going to reduce drag! Generally, it's small lip spoilers and such that reduce it, I've never heard of such a large wing being used for that. Please clue me in if there's some info about it somewhere.

[ScottyB]

i agree with Channing about the shape of the airfoil. if you look at the rear deck wings on a funny car, they are flat with no airfoil.....those are designed to simply smooth the flow, not really produce downforce.

[CaptainHenreh]

Let's assume it's plexan, or some other advanced polycarbonate window.

How much downforce is that wing going to produce? I can sit on my *glass* windshield with no ill effects. I wouldn't do it every day naturally, but my windsheild, for all it's surface area, still holds my 200+ pounds of weight.

So, how much more weight could an advanced polycarbonate with metal bands withstand? If my glass windsheild will support 200 pounds, could this focus' rear window support the same 200 pounds...well, 200 pounds is alot of damned downforce. It's also possible that those metal bands are attatched to the hatch, which, considering the angle of those bands and the wing's placement on them, it seems that the stress on the "glass" would be secondary.

[Maengelito]

Let's assume it's plexan, or some other advanced polycarbonate window.

How much downforce is that wing going to produce? I can sit on my *glass* windshield with no ill effects. I wouldn't do it every day naturally, but my windsheild, for all it's surface area, still holds my 200+ pounds of weight.

So, how much more weight could an advanced polycarbonate with metal bands withstand? If my glass windsheild will support 200 pounds, could this focus' rear window support the same 200 pounds...well, 200 pounds is alot of damned downforce. It's also possible that those metal bands are attatched to the hatch, which, considering the angle of those bands and the wing's placement on them, it seems that the stress on the "glass" would be secondary.

it most likely is lexan glass. it can support a lot of weight, but lexan also flexes quite a bit, so i assume that wing is mounted more on those metal bands rather than the glass itself.