I was at a Track Day on the Silverstone F1 Grand Prix Track today, when I got many alarms 'Spoiler Control Failure' After the High Speed Sections coming into the slower Bends........ (Is this when the spoiler should go down?)

I have recently added the Speedart Larger Spoiler with End Plates, on the standard mountings, and I know that Ken Smiley also has this sort of (Strosek) CF Spoiler on his car........

When retiring to the Pits, the Spoiler was fixed in the Up Position, and to lower it, you had to turn the ignition off, back on again, and then retract it with the dash button normally.

Can the extra DownForce with the Bigger Spoiler, cause this annoying failure?

Lots of Red Warning Alarms whilst negotiating bends on a Wet - High Speed Track was quite disconcerting........

After a while I just ignored the alarms.......... Driving Home on normal mixed roads showed no problems at all...........

Can anyone throw a light on this?

Many Thanks

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Cheers Karel

'Power is Nothing without Control..........'

I have the Strosek wing also. I have had no problems with either of the two cars I used it with. I would guess that a fault could occur if it tried to retract and got jammed somehow. But I have no idea. Check the clearance to see if it appears to struggle going up/down and if it is not able to go all the way down without hitting something.

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2007 Speed Yellow Cayman GT 2.7 (retired)
2008 Guards Red Cayman GT 3.4
"Carpe Cayman"

Hi Dave,

Many thanks for your suggestion.

The Spoiler goes up and down fine - no clearance issues......... It just goes up and down, as normal, on street driving - No Problem.

However Driving on the track - after driving along the 150 mph Main Straight (max speed I achieved), when slowing down at the twisty section where you have 40 mph Corners, the Spoiler does not go Down, and you get the Audible Alarm, Warning Messages, Red Lights, Red Exclamation Mark, Red Message, with Reminders if you do not cancel, the whole disturbing thing, and every time you get to the same slow section of the Track the Alarms go again. Drive back and stop in the Pits, and the Spoiler is in the Up Position Permanently............ The Button does not work it....... Turn off the Ignition, and turn it on again, and then try the Button, It retracts the Spoiler....

I don't think it is a major problem, and I quite like the idea that the Spoiler is up at all times on the Track, just want to know how to stop the annoying alarms.......

Is the Extra Downforce generated at 150 mph causing a problem with the mechanism that stops it for working? Is it Damaging Sensors or the Motor Mechanism? Could I be Storing up problems for the Future?

Any help or ideas, is much appreciated.

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Cheers Karel

'Power is Nothing without Control..........'

With the OE spoiler one can press the spoiler-up button manually just before going on track and the spoiler will stay up for the whole session. It remains up after the switch is turned off too, but will go down on the next re-start, so the spoiler-up button has to pressed again just before going out for each session.

i have posted about this in the past, any track with high and low speed sections that force the spoiler in constant motion will cause it to fail. It happens no matter what wing you have. Just put it up before you go out and you will have no problems.

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Craignyc
Cayman S 2006 - Sold
Boxster 2001 - race car and current track toy.
www.nycs4.com/cayman_track_times.html

Craig,

I did various Searches, and found nothing - So Many Thanks for your Guidance.

I will try the strategy of putting the Wing up in the Pits, and See What Happens...............

I Never had the problem on 12 previous TrackDays this year, with the Standard Wing, on similar High/Low Speed Tracks. So I thought it might be something to do with the bigger wing I have now.

If you come over ever to the UK, be sure to let me know - A pleasure to be your tourist guide, and also if I can find a track place, you can drive a RH Drive Cayman (or sit as a Passenger on the Left with NO Wheel to hold onto.)

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Cheers Karel

'Power is Nothing without Control..........'

Interesting, because I've driven my CS on several different tracks where there are high and low-speed sections, and the spoiler goes up and down (75 and 37 mph respectively) without any problems at all. No sticking in the up position, no alarms, or warnings... acts just like it does on the street. I also don't think speed or downforce has anything to do with it - I've had the car up to 165+ out in the desert and the spoiler comes back down normally when I slow down for the next little town...


brad

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21-year PCA Member
PCA DE Instructor

Could it be that the extra size/downforce of the NEW spoiler at 150+mph is pushing the spoiler backward at high speed so that when speed reduces it is then in an "awkward" position and therefore the alarms etc?

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allan@motordrive.com

I suspect there is nothing wrong with your spoiler: on the track, you are changing from the "spoiler go up" speed of 75 mph to the "spoiler go down speed" of (whatever it is) and then back again to the "spoiler go up" speed so rapidly that at some point in time it is getting a "go up" instruction while in the process of going down, or vice versa. Solution is to put it up manually with the button and leave it up.

I agree with beez that this shouldn't happen. And I personally think that putting a different wing on there may in fact add more resistance to the mechanism, and if on a track where you are passing both thresholds often (wing up, wing down), the motors can overheat.

This is a great tid bit of information for me. When I start tracking, I am going to put my wing up and leave it up. I just don't like the idea of it cycling so many times unnecessarily. Electro mechanical devices do wear and will eventually fail. For this reason alone, I think this is good advice for anyone going to the track.

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Gator Bite
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