Mystery of Rear Bumper Dust

[MAJOR STONER]

I remember reading about this once. Wedge shaped cars split the air and it is a desire to leave as "dirty" a wake as possible. This is why cars like the NSX and Corvette have flat backs and slots, to mess the air behind. This is the reason that the racing NSXs have those spats and verticle pieces of carbon fiber under the rears. I don't understand it, but the rule is make the airflow cleanly over the car and dirty behind it.

 

[CDub]

Wow! this is a hot topic.

My guess is that when the car is moving forward, it actually creates a vacuum behind the car. It in turn creates turbulence that stirs up all the items that were mentioned above ... brakes dust, exhaust, road dust and rubber from your tires.

Have you tried riding in the back of a pickup with the tail gate down with a beer in your hand? The wind seems to be blowing in your face if you are facing backward.
From personal experience while I lived in Helena, Montana, it is not recommended to drink beer in this situation. Not only you can see the shiny particles at the bumper of your 75 chevy pickup, you can taste it in your mouth too.

 

[Electro]

Ok now I dont feel so bad...

Maybe there's some sort of anti-static treatment you can give the back bumper? Or replace the bumper with something that doesn't attract static electricity so badly? Dirt and anything else that's microscopic will stick to anything that's statically charged...

-Electro

 

[nsxtasy]

Just remove the bumper.

Saves weight, too.

 

[hejo]

Here's the real answer... http://physics.about.com/library/weekly/aa070801a.htm

So looking at these images you can see why it is we need to drive faster to keep the vortex farther back thus not allowing the crap to accumulate on our bumpers!

Anything less than the speed of sound is going cause us problems.

If you're really interested then look here http://www.fortunecity.com/silverstone/lancia/58/technical_school/aero/tech_aero.htm


[This message has been edited by hejo (edited 10 January 2002).]

 

[erobbins]

Originally posted by Electro:
Maybe there's some sort of anti-static treatment you can give the back bumper?

It's called Zaino.

 

[NSXLNT]

I've got about twenty coats of Zaino on my car, and it looks great, but I still get the
dust on my rear end also. Z6 is supposed to be anti-static, and I think it helps, but the dust is still there.

 

[aaron]

to answer the question someone asked, the taitec diffuser does help solve this problem. I've only had it installed for a couple of days, but the bumper is clean.

 

[MYNSX]

My answer to the black car problem after driving it for one week was a complete "body off" color change.At the time(approx 1+ year ago) I did not have 65,000.00 for a low mile 97+ to get the car I wanted in Spa Pearl Yellow.I think black looks great when it is "perfectly clean" but alot of work to keep my daily driver clean enough for me.The yellow is a very forgiving color for cleanliness plus I can see alot more of the cars lines and air ducts really stand out vs's being almost invisible when I had the car black.Not that I was planning on selling the car but for future sceptical buyers(which I would be) that might be afraid of the car because of the paint work.I had the before/ during/ after pictures documenting that the body was perfect and had the custom paint shop, on their letterhead notorize these facts.The result was an very happy me.Yes I get the light haze of dust on the rear bumper due to a day or two's driving "but" unless you run a finger through it its not nearly as noticable to me.And if I want perfection beside the NOS bottle (ye'ol'california duster)gets pulled out of that there trunk and we got a spiffy new car again ...

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[NSXY]

As noted by another member above, after Zaino-ing my bumper, the dirt/dust still accumulates.

Also, does the CA Duster really work without problems, like creating micro scratches? I am very reluctant to wipe the NSX paint finish with anything that's dry. How do remove the crap on the duster before you reuse it? Do you just shake it, or do you wash and dry it?

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NSXY
95 NSX-T, 5 sp, Red/Tan, Stock, except Dunlaptya SP9000s

 

[MYNSX]

I have never heard of or seen a California duster damage a car or cause paint damage.I guess if you were to throw it on the ground then before cleaning it rub the dirt into the finish you would,but it is a very suble and soft material and I hardly think it would damage any car when used properly.

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[NSXLNT]

I got a California Dash Duster for Christmas. It says on the box that it never needs cleaning and that "the dirtier it gets, the better it works".

 

[cojones]

Originally posted by aaron:
the taitec diffuser does help solve this problem... the bumper is clean.

is the "mistery" dust gone, or does it just settle on some other horizontal surface?

The rear-flowing air (Taitec has more straight-through air path than OE rear valance) presumably whisks this dust away.

 

[aaron]

the dust is gone, it's probably on the car following me!! Besides airflow, the taitec exposes the trailing edge of the rear tires, I think the dirt from the tires goes thru the diffuser's negetive pressure area, then joins the air coming under the diffuser and blows right off. Also noticed that the diffuser side spats don't get dirty when I go thru standing H2O...

 

[Nsxotic]

I've always had a Cal. duster until a little while ago. It seemed to only cause streaks everywhere rather than actually pick up any dirt. Just smudging the whole car. Has anyone else had this happen? At the time, I was storing it in my trunk which gets hot/cold as you drive the car and the car was parked in a comm. garage at a condo which may or may not have been moist in the air..... Do you think that this was the reasons for the streaking? Now that I have a house with a garage, should I get another and keep it in the garage where it's dry rather than in my trynk and give it another shot?

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Todd Arnold

http://www.geocities.com/nsxcessive/index.html

 

[tomc92bb000059]

I had the same problem with my Cali Duster. If I pressed down on my vette, now gone for my NSX (whoooohooo, even thought there is a significant torgue loss) I had lots of streaks. A little research netted that the California Duster is nothing but a regular very soft stranded material, impregnated with, lets say candle wax, to soak up all the dirt. As long as I don't press down at ALL, and let the fibers just touch the car, it all seems good. This may help the problem. Now i just need to see results and pics of that Taitec rear end (like I can afford it now..... Hey Honey, Birthday right around the corner...

because I am very lazy and get tired of washing my car and then getting caught in a storm.

 

[nsxtasy]

This is why I don't use a California duster.

For spot cleaning (like the rear bumper, or an occasional bird dropping) I use a clean all-cotton towel and Meguiar's Quik Detailer, Meguiar's Final Inspection (which is very similar to their Quik Detailer), or Zymol Field Glaze. But if the entire car has a layer of dust, I wash it.

 

[MYNSX]

I was told when I got my 1st duster (before you start using it)you must shake it outlay it on a piece of newspaper(this draws out the "exess" wax)and let it be for a day.I would and did this for 48 hrs and kinda "re-shook it" for the second 24 after that I could see on the paper the exess oil clearly.I did notice a little grease streaking "especially"on glass but this went away altogether pretty quickly maybe after a few weeks totally.No the product is not perfect and Im sure "anything" wet or dry does at times "micro"scratch.To me the fact that they are microscopic doestnt warrent me not using the duster.Miles on the car cause minor rock chips too but that doest make me stop driving it.IMO the car will never be perfect again and thus I can really enjoy the car rather than fuss over minor details. I am by no means neglegtful to the car but realistic about my expectations of how close to "new" it will look with reasonable efforts and not become miopic(its a car).I am not saying this to provoke you or minimize your concern although that is what I feel.

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[NSXLNT]

I have to agree with Ken that a bottle of some sort of spray detailer is the best thing to keep on hand for light dust.What kind of cloth you use is the most important. Just don't use a lot of pressure, and don't keep using the same dirty cloth. The detailer
has the added benefit of helping to restore the shine of whatever wax/polish you prefer to use.
With regards to this bumper dust, I have to agree that it's a problem caused mostly by static charge build up on the bumper from the material the bumper is made out of. Those of you with diffusers benefit because the dust is drawn away from the bumper by the air flow before it has a chance to stick to the bumper. I would also say that most of the dust accumulated while driving is some sort of exhaust emmisions, carbon perhaps?
Those of us who are wax/polish fanatics probably add to the problem because we spend so much time rubbing the car/bumper with a cloth, and I think this helps to buid up the static charge, almost like scuffing your feet as you walk across a carpet. I've been observing this over the past several weeks polishing my car, and noticed there is less static buildup while I am working wearing all cotton clothing such as jeans/tshirt, as opposed to synthetics such as polyester. Working in my heated garage with plenty of light, I'm able to see dust settle as I work and it always migrates to the plastic parts of the car. I think the moisture in the quick detailer helps to lesson the static build up. JMO, YMMV

 

[huckster]

agree with nsxtasy, the meguaire quik detailer stuff works good on light dust

so good in fact that my wife claims the nsx gets more rubbing than sh...well, never mind

hey nsxtasy, never heard back from you on my chicago trip meeting. i emailed you. did you get it? i'll be back up in a couple of months. peace

 

[nsxtasy]

huckster, I never got your private e-mail. I sent you an e-mail proposing that we get together. Oh well, sounds like there's another opportunity. Do you know the dates yet?

I'll try sending you a private e-mail again, LMK if you don't receive it.

 

[POWERED by HONDA]

I forgot to mention that before American Honda let us in for their open house, they used the CA Duster to quickly clean up the NSX's (4 of them). A 2000/2001 Blue and three 2002's in Blue, Yellow and Silver.