Okay, here is my idea:
Let's dress the FX16 to look like a Bugatti Veyron. The key element will be a brake activated rear spoiler.
Here is the Veyron's spoiler at normal position:
And here is the Veyron's spoiler while braking:
Many Supercars are doing this now-a-days. Major advantages I can see are:
1) Add rear downforce to help prevent rear wheel lock-up.
2) Add rear downforce to help reduce brake dive and give the car a more neutral feel while braking.
3) Add massive amounts of drag to help the brakes slow the car down.
This will be extremely simple to build. I already have a stepper motor large enough for this and I can easily build brackets with a very large mechanical advantage so the motor won't have to work as hard.
My idea to make this sound super cool for the judges is something like this:
HOW COOL IS THAT?? A BRAKE ACTIVATED LEMON SPOILER!!! The judges will LOVE IT!!!
The lemon will sit flat on the roof of the FX when not in use and will most likely extend out beyond the body line above the rear hatch window.
Here is an excellent YouTube video to show exactly what I am talking about:
<![CDATA[<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/mvfG_jEXosw&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" class="bbc_link bbc_flash_disabled new_win">http://www.youtube.com/v/mvfG_jEXosw&hl=en_US&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999</a>]]>I am already planning on doing this to my MR2, but I am going to use a BASIC Stamp Microcontroller with an accelerometer so that the spoiler will only deploy under HEAVY deceleration.
The mustang in the above video simply has it connected to the brake lights basically. Touch the brake pedal even slightly and the spoiler deploys. We don't have to do it this way, we can do to the FX16 what I am planning on doing to my MR2, but the BASIC Stamp retails for about $100 (I already own two of them) so the judges might have a fit with that.
SO, what we can do is this: We can KEEP IT SIMPLE by having an additional trigger:
1) Brake switch is trigger #1
2) Have a simple switch attached to the front suspension that is only activated when the suspension compresses 3/4 (or whatever) of the way.
So the condition would be that you must be both on the brakes and have brake dive in order for the Lemon to deploy. This wouldn't require any fancy accelerometer or microcontroller at all, just simple push button switches from Radio Shack.
