Quote:
Originally Posted by Flakbadger
Actually doesn't sound crazy to me. I've kind of wondered about having an aluminum heat-sink type radiator for a car before... Sort of like the cooling fins on fancy PC RAM or on R/C car's motors. They'd probably need a regular radiator for low-or-no-speed operation, but it could be a lot smaller with the passive cooling the heat sink would provide.
It'd burn the hell out of you if you went to change the oil, though :P
|
The aluminium valve covers of my Subaru had heat sink fins. But if you sketch out a nice air-cooled engine and add up the total surface area of its fins, you'll find it's a tiny fraction of the surface area of a radiator.
I like the simplicity, lower cost, and lighter weight of an air cooled engine. However, the greater cooling capacity, more even temperature regulation, and more efficient use of cooling air of a water-cooled setup are generally worth the price.
And the Volt? I hope it gets some efficiency upgrades, including a better engine. If I'm allowed to dream, the engine options would be: tiny diesel, tiny Atkinson, or the no-engine option.