A car moving at a high speed gets resistance as it cuts through the air to get ahead. This drag somehow compromises the stability of the car. 

Explains all the curves with modern car designs in the name of aerodynamics – how moving air interacts with solid objects cutting through it. 

To provide the necessary stability, spoilers were created with the choice of the name aptly suggesting its function is to spoil the impact of the oncoming air. And as a rule, it is always at an angle. So how does it work?

James Mugaga of Raquel Motors drives a Subaru fitted with a spoiler. 

He argues that when a car is racing, it becomes light. But with a spoiler, correctly installed and positioned depending on the shape of the car, it is pushed downward giving it exceptional stability in movement, maneuvering, and braking.

He explains: “Cars without tend to be very unstable when it comes to real aerodynamics. When you are racing, the car is always light. That is why it can be hit by a motorbike sideways and flips off the road. Even a flying brick can do that. So, the spoiler also gives it the advantage of weight.”

Rally driver and mechanic, Joel Katongole, says on the race track, spoilers help keep the car firm on the ground. Every time you step on the accelerator, you feel the car becoming firm on the ground.

You would assume adding a spoiler also adds to the amount of fuel needed to move the car, but Mugaga says it does not increase even by a dot but instead reduces because the spoiler spoils the movement of air cutting down the force it would put on the vehicle.

What about those on nonperformance cars?

Well, since the spoilers got popularized in the 1970s on race cars, they have become a fashionable add-on for some motorists on nonperformance cars.

Samson Sematta, another car enthusiast argues that it only benefits those driving race cars. It was not meant to make cars beautiful, the reason some cars have them but can deploy with the help of a button only when needed.

Kantongole says the same. 

“You only derive the benefit of the spoiler when you are driving fast. I have to drive a car with a spoiler because I know the benefit.”

While some cars come with them, some are aftermarket parts made locally or imported.