Aerodynamics of a brick.

[Fast Guy]

Originally Posted by wyatt

A couple things I see that could help fuel economy by improving your aerodynamics would be:
1. An bellypan for under your engine. ........
2. I don't know how vital your huge "mouth" opening is......

There's a small plastic undertray already, but I think I'd prefer to replace it with something better eventually.

The opening is pretty important if I don't want to melt my pistons. The radiator is behind the intercooler and both are vital to engine cooling and therefore engine life.

Originally Posted by Christ

OP, when you're not racing, you could certainly cover that up though. Unless you rev high all the time. Your Turbo shouldn't even really be spooling in street driving, so it's not really heating up enough to utilize an intercooler that much.

I rev high alot of the time Motorway cruising is when I tend not to use the boost.(you sort of get adicted to the acceleration)

Originally Posted by rav

The mirrors are awesome, where did you get them from?

Ravi

I got them from here. Although quoted for my car, the base plates are wrong and so need modifying slightly to fit.

- ESP Design Ltd

Originally Posted by dichotomous

do you have tunable engine management with boost control? thats how you could get some great numbers, tweaking the exact fuel shot into each cyl for each throttle input % and rpm and boost level, and keeping boost to about 1psi or so would help so that there is no "suck" portion of "suck-squish-bang-blow"

At the moment the standard ECU is looking after everything. Standalone management is further down my list as the one I want will be about 3-4000$ depending on options

[trebuchet03]

Originally Posted by Fast Guy

The opening is pretty important if I don't want to melt my pistons. The radiator is behind the intercooler and both are vital to engine cooling and therefore engine life.

Keeping it within proper temps is vital to engine life... But is keeping the entire hole open vital to keeping proper temperature?

The case studies on this website show - absolutely not. With instrumentation, you can find the critical zone for a given environment. You're a bit of a special case because of the IC....


Question: Is the hood scoop directly ducted to the IC and radiator? Or, is it ducted and diffused (hood opening being smaller than the duct exit)? Keep in mind that turbulent air is MUCH MUCH more effective at conducting heat than that same air ramming it's way through there

[Fast Guy]

By hood scoop, do you mean the one in the first post? As that is not on the car anymore, but with that scoop the air is ducted directly onto the top mounted intercooler, from there it has to find it's own way out of the engine bay. I guess it is a divergent duct as the opening is definately smaller than the outlet.

The vent now fitted I'm hoping lets some of the air out (and heat in summer) from under the bonnet after it's gone through the intercooler then radiator and then crashed into the turbo and exhaust manifold.