i was wondering if the wing on my matrix really does anything performance wise
or is it just a cosmetic thing?

yes they work, try removing it and driving. or even driving with a broken wing for that matter, you will see a noticable handling difference.

big time difference you will really notice it when you are at a high speed or jumping

Hmm i have had the wing off mine for a while because it snapped...maybe there was a performance change i just didnt notice. It also jumps odd too, as said in my other thread it tips forward when it leaves the jump, the wing would effect that im pretty sure.

i was just wondering
thank you

It does nothing at all.[8D]
A small buggy with a small wing at MAX 40mph won't make any noticable downforce to make any difference in handling.
I beleive it's just for looks and marketing.
PLUS it's all up in our minds!!!

It's a well kept secret that they only work if you paint a single white lightning bolt on them. If the wing is white, you're out of luck.

I'm not sure if they have a significant effect or not. I say go with what mkincy said, take it off and see if you can notice a difference.

LOL good one.

It does make a difference, it isnt just for looks. I drove my car without a wign once and It jumoped terribly, and the rear end wasnt hooking up. I mean think about it, look at the size of the wing compared to the car, The wings on these things are big relative to the size of the car.

It might be big compared to the car but in order to make noticable downforce it will need more than the MAX speed of the buggies. Especially on the turns where the speed is not even close to MAX.

I do though beleive that it does do something but just not much.
And it could be a bit better than nothing since the wing is also an added weight on the rear and in jumps it will pull the rear down.

just as an experiment, drive 40mph down the road with the window down. now make your hand flat, wiht your fingers together and stick it out the window like a plane wing. now angle your hand up and down. u should feel a little force trying to lift or push down your hand.

on our rc cars, i think the wing helps stabilize the rear end when flying down the bumpy straights at 40mph.

try it without and let us know how it worked out.

wing keeps the rear end planted FIRM on the track. (maybe not FIRM, but it helps get the point)

I'm sure the extra 3oz of the plastic won't give you more downforce or pull the end down in flight. Think about it.

The problem is a lot of folk can't get enuff visual feedback from the vehicle to determine if the wing helps or not.

Why use your hand out the window for a test. Mount the wing on a coat hanger, oops better make that piano wire cuase I think a coat hanger will bend with the force.

Ed M.

It probably will bend since todays buggies, drive trains, and engines and reach over 50mph.

They work. You can try the experiment out the window if you like to verify. Keep in mind, your arm is probably stronger than you think, so you will be able to resist the force better than your car's suspension can (which probably bottoms out with 20 or so lbs of force).

Because of the slow speeds, and small size, they do not function like a full sized wing, where the difference in surface area and shape on top vs. bottom creates downforce by means of air pressure changes and vorticies.

In the case of our buggies, it works by simply making a blocking wall for air to crash into. By angling it slightly, it creates a downward pressure on the car.

i wanna try the truggy wing on my buggy.. do u think it word it since it smaller then buggy one..

Beyond the aerodynamics part ... it protects the HELL out of your buggy when you crash. I need that.

A few years ago we did some fooling around with wings on nitro outboard hulls to see if they reacted the same as fullsize ones.THE RESULTS WERE AMAZING.The 45 and 21 size boats were affected by wings and side wings more than full size.I had a 21 size with a front wing and wide open on the straightaway it put the boat under water.Side wings greatly improved stablity on straightaways and helped in cornering,so I do think they help the cars in the same way.Remember,scale size,the wing is scaled to the size of the car,if it was a full size car think how large the wing would be,than watch an outlaw sprint car go round the track.It won't go without the wing.
Just my 5 cents(inflation ya know)