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I can't remember where I found it or the precise details but somewhere around here I posted that JLR themselves said that the rear spoiler did nothing useful until something like 128 mph.
Obviously this means that under that speed there is zero problem with a disabled spoiler, and there is next to no chance I will ever reach that speed (again).
Disclaimer - I am probably the main culprit around here for deliberately disabling the spoiler for the prime reason of not waving a red flag at the po-po.
Edit - found it - post # 156 in this very thread.
And it is 135 mph!
Yep, same here, link no longer works.
So I searched the ACCC site and nothing, it's gone.
But I did find this web page from over 10 years ago: https://www.drive.com.au/news/2015-j...iler-may-fail/
Extract:"Jaguar Land Rover engineering has identified that EMS [energy management software] failed to apply the vehicles speed limiter to restrict the road speed when deployable rear spoiler (DRS) failed to deploy," the recall notice states.
"Where road speed exceeds 217kph with the DRS [deployable rear spoiler] in the down position vehicle stability will be compromised and the degree of directional control minimised, this significantly increases the risk of an accident."
Owners of affected vehicles - vehicles with VINs SAJAA65B5F8K15254 to SAJAC61B5F8K15884 - will be contacted and asked to see an authorised Jaguar workshop. All affected cars will be updated with "the correct calibration software".
Hence my reading that the rear spoiler has no real effect below 217 kph (135 mph).
Yep, same here, link no longer works.
So I searched the ACCC site and nothing, it's gone.
But I did find this web page from over 10 years ago: https://www.drive.com.au/news/2015-j...iler-may-fail/
Extract:"Jaguar Land Rover engineering has identified that EMS [energy management software] failed to apply the vehicles speed limiter to restrict the road speed when deployable rear spoiler (DRS) failed to deploy," the recall notice states.
"Where road speed exceeds 217kph with the DRS [deployable rear spoiler] in the down position vehicle stability will be compromised and the degree of directional control minimised, this significantly increases the risk of an accident."
Owners of affected vehicles - vehicles with VINs SAJAA65B5F8K15254 to SAJAC61B5F8K15884 - will be contacted and asked to see an authorised Jaguar workshop. All affected cars will be updated with "the correct calibration software".
Hence my reading that the rear spoiler has no real effect below 217 kph (135 mph).
Good to learn all the facts, thanks. Clearly, the engineers and lawyers had to require a spoiler because top speeds of F-Types exceed 135 mph. Still, it's unclear to me whether the hidden-until-autodeployed wing is only an eye-candy party trick at sub-135mph speeds; maybe "stability... compromised" and "directional control minimized" are thresholds of peril irrespective of more subtle enhancements of stability and control the spoiler provides after self-actuation speeds are reached. The different actuation speeds (and body contours) for coupes/'verts suggests that track testing did reveal some advantages to sub-135mph lift reduction.
(Regardless, I seriously doubt police know specifics of F-Type spoiler actuation speeds such that wing deployment=speeding in their minds.)
Say you have a 30mph headwind and are driving into it at 75 or 80....car might just go light especially if topping a crest. At that speed, loss of control could be really ugly. I like extra downforce...
Well, other than the idea that I can't take much advantage of deployment other than track days, I found another reason I'd like to keep that bad boy down. Paint chips.
I had just raised the spoiler for cleaning/polishing before hitting the freeway for a short run. Found the chip right afterwards, on the top of the spoiler lip, as I circled around the rear of the car to go inside my house. I thought, "Man, how the heck did that get there? It wasn't there a few minutes ago." (Admission: **** detailing-type here who misses little.)
Seems the air flow could direct pebbles (hesitate to say rocks) into the top of the spoiler at speed. I'm in the process of confirming this--don't know for fact.
I'm going to straddle a shot of Venture Shield over the lip. We'll see...
Good news and bad.
Good - the new star security bits rolled up today, and the TS27 worked a charm, spoiler removed with only a slight hassle (it needs a good pry & tug to get off).
Disconnected the power plug as shown earlier, bewdy, spoiler now no longer functions.
Bad - no way I could figure out to remount the spoiler with the plug disconnected and then get it to go down. Obviously the spoiler must be in the "up" position to remove or refit the 11 mountings screws.
Looks like there is no way around it other than to cut the rod or somehow access the plug from underneath through the hatch lining while the spoiler is down.
I plan on splicing the wire adding length as a jumper wire that has a male and female connector. Once the spoiler is lowered, from the inside I will disconnect that male and female connector so it can be attached if needed later on. Very similar to the toggle switch. I have a 2014 convertible so I have a little more access from the bottom of the truck deck. No glass window involved.
What if the spoiler is hampered by frozen snow? Will the spoiler try to deploy anyway and blow a fuse?
It should detect a fault well before blowing a fuse. Frozen or blocked in some way is too obvious a fault condition, and blowing fuses is hardly an elegant way to handle easily foreseeable conditions. I looked over the pieces I removed when I installed the fixed "Sport Design" spoiler and don't recall a position switch. I suspect the control module monitors current draw for normal operation but didn't have the inclination to check.
