Traffic cones fer front tire deflectors...

[BamZipPow]

Anyone tried using traffic cones fer front tire air deflectors yet? I was eyeing a few the other day and noticed they could possibly be used fer that purpose. Not sure if it won't deform when it came up to highway speeds or not...

[Lug_Nut]

I find that traffic cones directly in front of my tires tend to get deformed and eventually deflected. I don't seem to go slower, but each cone deformed by my tire adds 2 seconds to my time result when I autocross.
Concrete "Jersey barriers" are more effective at deflecting front tires. Also these barriers tend to not suffer deformation when coming up them at highway speed.

[theholycow]

I LOL'd.

[SL8Brick]

BamZipPow, the "cone killer" jokes are gonna keep on comin' until you illustrate your idea for us.

[Hateful]

cones are a good heavy material and shouldn't lose shape easily; not to mention the endless supply all over the roadsides.

[ophidia31]

Im pretty sure he means to have a reverse mudflap style but with the cones pointing to the front of the car. But if you already have youre airdam, there really isnt too much of a need for a tire deflector as not alot of air should be reaching under the car.

Its worth a shot if you want to try it out though.

[BamZipPow]

Well...I "collected" one on the road headed out to LA and it dawned on me that it could possibly be cut in half (from tip to bottom) and used fer front tire air deflectors. I did return the traffic cone back into the wild along with some of the other one that had congregated at the side of the road looking fer their buddy...

Seeing that I have a ton of miles left to go, I figured I'd ask the question (after doing some searching and seeing that no one else seemed to have mentioned it before) and see how viable it might be instead of using trash cans or other plastic bins cut in half fer that purpose. I've pulled the extended air dam off fer city driving and will be putting it back on when I head up to northern California tomorrow. I think I'll use a 4" gap instead of the 2" gap I had before...

I can sort of validate the front air deflectors with a bicycle wheel. If you spin them and then put a stream of air directly at it...the wheel/tire will slow down. Now put a deflector in front of the tire and you can see how that will reduce the amount of air friction on the tire/wheel combo.

[theholycow]

Dude, don't mess with them, they might get angry.
http://www.machinehead-software.co.u...ien_cones.html

[ophidia31]

How about an undertray but in front of the wheels have an angled piece to kick the air out from under the car? when i make my front tray, im going to temporarily place them in front of the wheels to see what happens. i heard that there is an increase in instability wil wheel deflectors, but if directed away from instead of under the car or trapped like flat ones do, there wouldnt be this effect.

another one would be if you want to get crazy. im sure you can make a wheel cover that would attach to the spindle of the front wheels. covering the entire tire about an inch from the rubber surface. a detachable plate to cover the outer surface so you can get to the lugs to take off the wheel. you can even design it to be more aerodynamic than just following the circular pattern of the tire. can do the same thing for the rear too. the only downfall would be getting air to the brakes so you dont warp them on your first few stops.

[Lug_Nut]

BZP, I understand the intent of your idea, but I can't envision a means of securing the half cone to the bottom of the front fender. The base of the cone would be vertical in this undercar orientation but the surface to which you'd be attaching it would be more horizontal.
The bicycle wheel may not be the best analogy to use as an example. All those spokes sweeping forward at (nearly) twice ground speed don't exist with auto wheels. The spokes project to either side wider than the bicycle tire width, unlike the auto wheel pretty much hidden behind that tire.
The top of a bike tire is exposed to the air stream, the top of a car's tire is inside a fender and relatively well protected. The bottom of a wheel/tire is moving slowly relative to the road and the air stream. Reducing air flow at this location of the tire is less effective than reducing a higher relative air speed portion above the axle line, but that portion is already inside the fender.
Skirting the lower half of a car's tire will help, just not as much as you might believe from observing a bicycle tire slowing in the wind.