Sparky, I guess the question would be is the lift from that low pressure more than the high pressure created when the air over the top hits the spoiler? Does that air cause a turbulence or keep the high pressure from dropping down before clearing the deck lid?
It's a shame that after all these years (58) no one has had the resources to put one of these car's in a wind tunnel.
When I was reseaching for my car at Speedweek in 96,97 and 98, I talked to every Studebaker driver on the Salt. This included Studebaker Joe, Beard and Glade, Turner and Whitley, Homer Hinchcliff, and my friend Bruce Geisler amongst others. Most ran air duct's.
I asked each about certain features such as straight axles and the air duct's exiting the trunk.
The concensus I gleaned was that many thought straight axles were the only way to fly, but not one of them could offer anything for reasoning other than "that's the way we have always run it".
Granted, the stock Stude front suspension might not be the best, but Geisler's car has run a stock one since the 60's.
The same thing applies to when I asked about the air duct's. Not one of them could tell me if they had any proof of them working. It was more of a "monkey see monkey do" thing.
As I stated in my previous post, the Stude's that ran in the seventies and eighties may have benifited more than today's versions in that we can run a spoiler, but once again we have no proof of the advantage of the ducts whereas the spoilers are a proven design on virtually all full bodied cars. Bob