Front Wheel Arch Vents - 380 Cup vs 430 Cup

[implus]

On my 430, the nearer vent has a hole at the inner edge but not sure if the outer vent has any air flow as the stones are being trapped in the corner as can be seen in the pic. 

[mark248am]

2 hours ago, Seriouslylotus said:

Np sorry am unable to post picture

They look closed but are just offset, does allow air flow

 

this, sort of

Not on his, they don’t only look closed but they are actually closed.

[cuprapw]

I inspected a 430 FE today, even below the wheel arch area

The front and bigger part of the vent is closed, no discussion ...no air will go through that one ..ever

The rear one, apart from the drainage hole has a super small opening that will allow air flowing through the smaller aperture 

I seriously doubt how functional could be as the aperture is very thin 

[Brian Braddock]

How would stones get into the vent in the pics above unless it was from the tyres through the inside of the wheel arch?

Gavan Kershaw said in person that the near identical vents on an Elise Cup 260 were worth approximately 6kg of downforce. This might not sound much but they are there to reduce lift, not produce downforce. They help the front aero parts generate more net negative lift and importantly in the case of the Elise Cup 260 (which has a huge rear wing) to be better balanced front to rear aerodynamically. This means the aero benefit from the vents is much greater than the modest downforce figure suggests. High downforce at one end of the car is considered less effective than a lower overall figure that is better balanced.

At least everyone can now agree that the vents are not closed.

[mark248am]

3 hours ago, Brian Braddock said:

How would stones get into the vent in the pics above unless it was from the tyres through the inside of the wheel arch?

 

there are 430 cups with closed, fully open and semi closed vents based on the photos and conversations in this thread 🤷🏼‍♂️

[cuprapw]

The one in checked had a thin opening like drawn in the picture and only to let the air flow (minimal) towards the rear

If there were any air flow to the front one I guess they would have also added a drainage hole

In the end I went down the 380 cup version for mine, fully open 

[mark248am]

This has to be my favorite and most lotus thread yet 

[nordschleife666]

2 hours ago, cuprapw said:

The one in checked had a thin opening like drawn in the picture and only to let the air flow (minimal) towards the rear

If there were any air flow to the front one I guess they would have also added a drainage hole

In the end I went down the 380 cup version for mine, fully open 

Are yours from Eltech?

[cuprapw]

@nordschleife666 exactly, Eltech ones 

[RRSSS]

13 hours ago, cuprapw said:

The one in checked had a thin opening like drawn in the picture and only to let the air flow (minimal) towards the rear

If there were any air flow to the front one I guess they would have also added a drainage hole

 

 

 

Correct! there are gaps. If you shine a torchlight underneath you'll see the light come through in those areas. I think people were expecting very obvious "vents" but this is not the case. Mine is 2018 so early batch and it's the same.