Spoiler alert!

[Karnevil]

When did the Stratos get the spoilers and wing?

[Normb666]

Whenever they got screwed on. And the replicas follow that exact same process :-P

Sorry, I'm being facetious (for a change). But I remember seeing it on the '74 RAC without any addenda if that helps....no, thought not. :(

[Guy Mayers]

When did the Stratos get the spoilers and wing?

14th November 1974.

[Guy Mayers]

Bugger, can't seem to post the Homologation Page I just found. But it's on this one.

https://historicdb.fia.com/sites/default/files/car_attachment/1600876801/homologation_form_number_640_group_4.pdf

Guy

[Longtimefan]

When did the Stratos get the spoilers and wing?

Not sure when they were first fitted, but suspect that they evolved first on the GP4 cars. Looking at the shape and profile of the roof spoiler, I'm sure that this was developed and fitted to creat a low pressure zone over the loovers to draw air out of the engine bay to aid general cooling.

I dont think the rear spoiler had much if any aero dynamic effect on the cars at speed on most rallies where the Stratos excelled, as they were usually twisty ones which meant generally slower overall top speeds. I think it was put there to provide a larger, near upright display area to extract larger fees from advertisers/sponsors. Looks great in the photos, just what the marketers wanted in the era!!

Robin.

[Iowstratos]

In the 90’s the rear wing was not to give downforce but to help the cars over the jumps in the air, and to keep the cars stable in flight by keeping them flat.
I know that it works on the Stratos as on a rally in the Chez republic i had mine 6 feet off the ground and she came down flat. Only broke the rear clam hinges on the Hawk which i later fixed with extra gussets.

Ian

[ProtoTipo]

The last rally that the works cars didn't have the roof wing and rear spoiler (as far as I know) was the 1975 Swedish Rally. (early Alitalia colour scheme)
From the end of the 1974 season to the 1975 Swedish, the cars also had an early shape of 4 lamp pod with no cover. I'm guessing it was fabricated from aluminium.
The early 4 lamp pods are bit more 'sawtooth' shaped than the later and more common fibreglass 4 lamp pods.

I've just checked:
Pinto drove a works early Alitalia car to victory on the Rallye Sicily in March 1975.
That car still had no roof wing or rear spoiler, but the new 4 lamp pod.

ERC rounds aside, I think the first world championship round where the works cars had a roof wing and rear spoiler, would be the 1975 Safari (25th - 31st March).

[Longtimefan]

In the 90’s the rear wing was not to give downforce but to help the cars over the jumps in the air, and to keep the cars stable in flight by keeping them flat.
I know that it works on the Stratos as on a rally in the Chez republic i had mine 6 feet off the ground and she came down flat. Only broke the rear clam hinges on the Hawk which i later fixed with extra gussets.

Ian

I can understand that if you were flying, that it would have some effect, especially with the Low Pressure area over the rear. Perhaps the Aerodynamicists and knowledgeable amongst us could throw some light.

Robin

[Karnevil]

Whenever they got screwed on. And the replicas follow that exact same process :-P

Sorry, I'm being facetious (for a change). But I remember seeing it on the '74 RAC without any addenda if that helps....no, thought not. :(

:)...........

[Karnevil]

The last rally that the works cars didn't have the roof wing and rear spoiler (as far as I know) was the 1975 Swedish Rally. (early Alitalia colour scheme)
From the end of the 1974 season to the 1975 Swedish, the cars also had an early shape of 4 lamp pod with no cover. I'm guessing it was fabricated from aluminium.
The early 4 lamp pods are bit more 'sawtooth' shaped than the later and more common fibreglass 4 lamp pods.

I've just checked:
Pinto drove a works early Alitalia car to victory on the Rallye Sicily in March 1975.
That car still had no roof wing or rear spoiler, but the new 4 lamp pod.

ERC rounds aside, I think the first world championship round where the works cars had a roof wing and rear spoiler, would be the 1975 Safari (25th - 31st March).

Yeah I have some Alitaliya 1:18 models which do not have spoilers...............with lamp pods.
And then ones with pods and spoilers.
But all my Stradale models 1:18 Black,Blue,Red,Yellow,Lt Blue,Green all have spoilers and described as 1975 road versions,so im guessing by 1975 they would have been std fitment for homologation?

[ProtoTipo]

But all my Stradale models 1:18 Black,Blue,Red,Yellow,Lt Blue,Green all have spoilers and described as 1975 road versions,so im guessing by 1975 they would have been std fitment for homologation?

None of the Stradale production run were fitted with roof wings and spoilers at the time of manufacture.
There was an odd one that was trial fitted with the wing and rear spoiler. Curiously, these were colour coded.
As time went on, the unsold Stradale cars would have been fitted with grey metallic coloured roof wings and rear spoilers, before they were sold new.

[Willtord]

I can understand that if you were flying, that it would have some effect, especially with the Low Pressure area over the rear. Perhaps the Aerodynamicists and knowledgeable amongst us could throw some light.

Robin

Maybe I can attempt to shed some light here. I suspect that it was placed there originally in an attempt to provide an amount of downforce on the ground, to increase tyre contact patch area and aid traction on slippery surfaces while rallying and also to counter the upward momentum of the rear mass of the car during jumps.

The designers at the time didn't have the benefit of the shared knowledge that we now have, so wouldn't have known that a wing (or spoiler, just an inverted wing, acting in the opposite direction) approaches it's critical angle of attack typically in the range of 8 to 20 degrees relative to the oncoming airflow. Consequently, I would estimate that the Stratos rear spoiler, as it is angled at way more than 20 degrees to the oncoming airflow, actually spends most of it's time fully stalled and creates more profile and induced drag than useful downforce, but there will be some downforce, nevertheless.

But hey, it looks cool, and as has already been mentioned, provides a useful area for advertising sponsorship!

All the best to everyone for Christmas!

Mark

[Stratos Fear]

Interesting input Mark - are you, by chance , an aerodynamacist ?

[Willtord]

Hi,
I studied aerodynamics at Cranfield but ended up in the pointy end of a Jet. I did have some input into the Jaguar XJ220 and McLaren F1 race and road cars a while ago and also had a few interesting conversations with the Formula One guys.