Over the years, improvements have found their way into each and every Corvette to make them safer, sleeker, and faster. Technological upgrades like magnetic suspension, variable cam timing, and traction control keep the cars up-to-date with the competition, while adjustments to the body have dropped weight and lowered the drag coefficient.

On that last point, you hear terms like “spoiler,” “wing,” “diffuser,” and “splitters.” The implied reasoning behind these things has always been to boost aerodynamics, but what the heck do they mean to the actual Corvette driver?

Here to explain it all is Mid America Motorworks. Starting with diffusers, the basic concept revolves around creating downforce on the car to keep it hugging the road more tightly.

This happens by creating a space in the back for high-velocity, low-pressure air to diffuse (hence the name), while the low-velocity, high-pressure air surrounding the car pushes it down, creating a vacuum effect that sucks the car lower. Strakes prevent the air from getting turbulent and violent, which would otherwise negate the effects of the diffuser.

Splitters, on the other hand, are akin to front-mounted diffusers. Mounted at an upward angle, the air traveling over it at high speed pushes the chin of the car downwards, and thus affords yet more downforce on the car.

Up top, you have spoilers and wings as well. Spoilers sit directly on the car and “spoil” air flow across the top of the car to reduce drag, and can be fitted to rear as well as the front (which are also called air dams). Wings have mounts that extend away from the car, and when motorized, can work in conjunction with the vehicle’s speed. Wings can also double as air brakes in sudden slowdown situations.

Which of these items has a place on your Corvette? Let us know in a comment below, and be sure to check out Mid America Motorworks online and on Facebook as well.