Back in November of last year, I had the distinct honor of having a Porsche Panamera Turbo in my possession over the Thanksgiving holiday. No, I didn't bribe or blackmail anyone to make this happen, it was for the road test that followed shortly thereafter. As it sometimes happens, space constraints kept some interesting tidbits out of the story -- one of which was the beautifully articulated rear spoiler you see above.
The choppy animation doesn't do justice to how gracefully the spoiler deploys. It really is a thing of beauty when you see it pop up in person. As you'd expect from Porsche, this wing isn't just for show, it manages airflow around the tail at higher speeds to keep the rear end solidly planted on the blur of pavement whizzing by.
At 56 mph, the spoiler pops up. Initially, the wing is angled at -3 degrees (with the leading edge of the wing slightly higher than the trailing edge). As speed increases, so does the angle of attack, until it reaches +10 degrees at 127 mph. I can't believe this was any small feat of mechanical engineering, as seen in the illustration below, but leave it to Porsche to accomplish this task.
By cruiserhead1
on May 13, 2010
08:43 AM
sexy
By bodyblue
on May 13, 2010
02:07 PM
Just like on the old Crossfire.
By billt9
on May 13, 2010
10:11 PM
this is _the_ dream car.