Vehicle having rear spoiler with active vertical side plates, and method of controlling the same

A method of controlling a vehicle including a body, and a rear spoiler having a central portion, a first vertical side plate disposed at a first lateral edge of the central portion, and a second vertical side plate disposed at a second lateral edge of the central portion, the method comprising:

• sensing at least one operating condition of the vehicle with at least one vehicle sensor;
• determining a current spatial orientation of the body relative to a current direction of travel of the body, with a controller including tangible non-transitory memory having computer executable instructions recorded thereon, including an aerodynamic control module, and a processor operable to execute the aerodynamic control module to determine the current spatial orientation of the body relative to the current direction of travel of the body, from the sensed operating condition of the vehicle;
• determining an optimal position for each of the first vertical side plate and the second vertical side plate respectively, relative to the longitudinal axis, for the current spatial orientation of the body relative to the current direction of travel of the body, with the aerodynamic control module of the controller,
• signaling an actuating system with the controller to move the first vertical side plate and the second vertical side plate into their respective optimal positions for the current spatial orientation of the body relative to the current direction of travel of the body;
• and
• moving the first vertical side plate and the second vertical side plate into their respective optimal positions with the actuating system.