Quote:
Originally Posted by Piwoslaw
You will notice that as you drive more efficiently, the engine will not be as hot. This is because you are wasting less energy as heat and using more to move the vehicle. You should start thinking about insulating the engine bay, this will also keep the engine from cooling off too fast, so it will be warmer when you start again after shopping, for example.
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the average internal combustion engine is ~33% efficient on a good day... the other 2/3 of the energy is lost out of the exhaust and into the cooling system... so anything you can do to minimize the amount of heat(therefore, energy) going "unused" will help. turbos can harness a LOT of exhaust energy, but at the side effect of pushing a bunch more air into the engine, which requires more fuel to keep the AFRs in check...
a variable flow/capacity/surface area cooling system would probably help cut down on the heat lost to the cooling system, enough to offset the cost over the life of a vehicle i would think.