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Look up ground effects on the web and you'll find sites detailing the aerodynamic aspects of the term in addition to sellers of body kits who use the term to describe their product. Enthusiasts who want to emulate the racing cars that they see onscreen or at the track naturally want to make their cars look as close as possible to the racy vehicles they see. Thus, many owners buy body kits to personalize their cars to make them look unique and aggressive. But for a street-driven car, one has to understand that side skirts offer more of a visual impact rather than a performance advantage.

Ground effects are a part of the aerodynamic effects race car designers study. The practical application in racing of these effects was begun by the Chaparral race cars of the late 60s, particularly the sucker car, which used a large rear wing, side skirts that sealed the body of the car to the track and twin fans at the rear the sucked the air from under the car. This revolutionary car was promptly banned by the competition, and the next chapter in the application of ground effects was in the Lotus F1 cars designed by Colin Chapman in the 70s.

Today, no proper race car is built without considering the effects of aerodynamics on the performance of the car. Aerodynamic effects are studied using CFD, or computational fluid dynamics. With CFD, designers can study the effects of an air dam or a spoiler or variations in the shape of side skirts without building a prototype. Sample aero devices are built only after extensive testing in the computer. This methodology radically reduces wastage and allows for determining the effects of minute changes in the shape of aero devices.

In street cars, side skirts, which play a critical role in racing cars, is of little effect. This is because the ground clearance necessary to take advantage of this aerodynamic phenomenon is simply not present. Street-driven performance cars still need to clear a driveway, or speed bumps, as well as uneven roads, so there will be some clearance between the road and the car, which will negate the effects of even properly designed side skirts. However, air dams and rear wings and spoilers do help with the aerodynamics of street-driven cars, which is why high performance sports cars come with them from the factory. And a complete body kit would look silly without the accompanying side skirts to complement the front and rear spoilers. For track-driven cars, side skirts will have a benefit, and are even necessary for cars that have heavily modified engines and suspensions mitsubishi parts get is300 front lip mercedes parts