What Does a Spoiler Do For a Car?
Spoilers help alter the flow of air around your car—which improves its handling, fuel efficiency, and aerodynamics.
Written by Patrick Price
Reviewed by Melanie Reiff
Table of Contents
- What does a spoiler do for a car?
- What is a rear spoiler?
- What is a front spoiler?
- Other ways to improve aerodynamics
- What is a rear wing?
- What is a front splitter?
- What is a side skirt?
- Can you install an aftermarket spoiler?
- How to make your car insurance shopping more aerodynamic
- FAQs
Load full table of contents
A spoiler is an automotive component on the exterior of a vehicle that redirects the external airflow. This reduces drag, minimizes lift, and improves the car’s aerodynamics.
Car spoilers are sometimes thought of as being intended only for race cars and high-performance sports cars—which is half true. Since they travel at such high speeds, high-performance vehicles do often use spoilers to counteract aerodynamic drag.
However, other types of cars use spoilers to reduce wind resistance, boost fuel economy, improve handling, and aid in more precise cornering. Everyday passenger cars from automakers like Toyota and Honda regularly come standard with spoilers.
This article—brought to you by
Jerry
, the licensed insurance broker app
—will explain how spoilers help your vehicle and the advantages of the various types of spoilers. When you’re finished reading about what spoilers do for a car, don’t forget to download the Jerry mobile app to reduce the cost of your car insurance
!Are you getting ripped off on your car insurance? Find out in less than two minutes.
No long forms · No spam · No fees
Find insurance savingsWhat does a spoiler do for a car?
As your car increases speed, its wind resistance or “drag” also increases. The greater the wind resistance, the harder your engine has to work to propel the car forward—which inhibits your speed and increases the rate at which the car consumes fuel.
As your speed builds, the flow of air also pushes up on the bottom of the car—which is known as “lift.” It’s the same principle that airplane wings use to achieve flight. However, too much lift reduces your car’s handling by decreasing the amount of contact your tires have with the road.
Spoilers are designed to “spoil” these negative air currents by altering the flow of air above, below, and around your vehicle. This improves the aerodynamics of your car, which allows it to travel at high speeds more easily while using less fuel.
Spoilers also can create downforce, which is a type of aero-gravitational force that pushes your car down against the road. This counteracts lift and improves handling. It also greatly reduces the chances that you flip your car while turning a corner and ending up upside down.
What is a rear spoiler?
Rear spoilers are the most common type of car spoilers. Technically a portion of your vehicle’s trim, a rear spoiler is mounted near the back of the car, the place where air currents are the most turbulent.
As air travels over your car, it wraps around the back and continues underneath the vehicle. This creates a lot of lift. By halting the flow of air as it reaches the rear of your vehicle, rear spoilers educe lift, improving handling. A well-designed rear spoiler will also improve the car’s aerodynamics.
What is a front spoiler?
Air doesn’t just roll up under the rear of your car to create lift; it also travels under the front of the vehicle. To prevent this, some cars are fitted with front spoilers or “air dams.”
Air dams consist of a single piece of trim that extends vertically from the bottom of your front bumper. By preventing air from reaching the underside of your car, air dams create an area of low pressure, which has the same effect as pressing down on the top of the car with a heavy force.
As a result, your car will have greater downforce and better handling and traction. By preventing air from rushing under your car, front spoilers also reduce the amount of air pressing on the front of your tires and exposed components on your undercarriage, meaning there will be less dragon your car.
As mentioned above, less drag means your car can travel at faster speeds with less effort. So, having a front spoiler will also improve your car’s fuel efficiency.
Other ways to improve aerodynamics
Spoilers aren’t the only tool at your disposal for improving your car’s aerodynamics. Some vehicles also use front splitters and rear wings to achieve the same goal.
Let’s take a quick look at each of these devices.
What is a rear wing?
Spoilers do a great job of reducing lift on your vehicle. For some drivers, however, that’s just not enough. If you really want to create a huge amount of downforce while you drive, you might consider using a rear wing.
Similar to a rear spoiler, a rear wing is mounted at the very back of your car’s trunk. Unlike spoilers, however, wings don’t simply redirect air upward in order to prevent it from traveling under your car. Instead, rear wings actually use that airflow to actively push your car down. This counteracts lift to an even greater degree.
Rear wings greatly improve handling and control—especially at very high speeds. However, they do have a downside. Whereas spoilers generally reduce drag on your car, wings actually increase it!
Creating downforce improves your traction, but too much downforce results in increased drag. Rear wings trade a little of their potential speed for greater control. For this reason, rear wings are usually only seen on racing vehicles that already travel at tremendous speeds and need more traction.
What is a front splitter?
A front splitter is a small piece of trim that is attached to the bottom of a front spoiler. They’re designed to further increase the advantages of an existing front spoiler. It’s easy to miss a front splitter, they look like small shelves or additional layers extending from a front spoiler.
Essentially, a front splitter serves to make a front spoiler a little longer—and thus more effective.
What is a side skirt?
Having both a front spoiler and a rear spoiler will greatly reduce the amount of air that can travel under your car from the front and the back—but what about the sides? To further reduce lift, some cars are fitted with side skirts, which are a type of air dam that runs between the front and left tire.
Can you install an aftermarket spoiler?
If your car doesn’t come with a spoiler, you can purchase and install an aftermarket spoiler. It’s possible to do the installation yourself. However, if you don’t have much experience
installing aftermarket modifications
, it’s safer to have a professional do it for you. If you are going to purchase and install an aftermarket spoiler yourself, be careful and take your time. Make sure that you pick out a good quality spoiler and that you measure carefully before drilling any required holes.
How to make your car insurance shopping more aerodynamic
Spoilers can help your car move faster and with greater ease. Just like
Jerry
, the licensed insurance broker app
, can make shopping for quality car insurance faster and easier than ever before! Jerry is a revolutionary mobile app designed to keep your
car insurance costs
as low as possible. By comparing customized quotes from dozens of different insurance providers, Jerry can help you find the best deals, the most comprehensive coverage, and the lowest available rates.The best part? Drivers who use Jerry to compare and switch save an average of over $800 a year on their premium payments!
“Jerryis the future of car insurance! I downloaded the app, entered the information, picked my insurance rate, and paid my fee. I even switched insurance providers easily! Jerry saved me $182/month so quickly!” —Paulina F.
RECOMMENDED
Thousands of customers saved on average $887/year on their car insurance with Jerry
This app is great, but the customer service is even better! Not to mention convenient! My husband and I got the lowest rate (much lower than the rates I was finding online through my own searches), quickly, and pretty much all through text message! Thank you so much for a hassle free experience👍
Gabriella R.
Find insurance savings
4.7/5 Rating on App Store
FAQs
Does a spoiler make a car faster?
Yes and no. Spoilers alter theflow of air to reduce wind resistance. This allows your car to travel with greater ease and without so much air pressure pushing against it.
While this can help your car accelerate more rapidly and handle better at high speeds, it doesn’t actually add any power to your engine.
Do spoilers add horsepower?
Spoilers don’t add any horsepower to your car. They work to reduce lift and drag, two forces that can inhibit your car’s speed and compromise its handling.
How much does a spoiler cost?
Aftermarket spoilers have a big cost range. At the low end of the spectrum, you can find spoilers selling for as little as $20. Meanwhile, high-end spoilers can easily sell for $10,000-30,000. Just be aware that low-quality spoilers will have far less impact on your car’s performance.
Estimate your repair costs for free with GarageGuard™
Simplify your car maintenance with Jerry.
4.7You might also be interested
We value your privacy
