[chillsworld]

Originally Posted by freebeard

I would paraphrase your question as 'do best practices in the race car field apply to ecomodding?' Close enough?

Not per say... Most race car practices pertain to downforce, ventilation of hot air, and cooling of brakes/drivetrain/engine under extreme stress. The goals of their practices are not in line with that of ecomodding. As best I can tell. BUT a difference in goals doesn't mean that their ideas can't work for ecomodding.

Paraphrase would be "can one utilize these particular ideas to accomplish multiple goals in a more efficient and safe fashion than one can with more common ecomods?"

When one blocks airflow in the front of the car, a common ecomod, you risk dangerous engine temps due to lack of airflow to both ventilate the engine compartment and to optimize the cooling system. I have seen this discussed many times on this site. Utilizing radiator ducting, one can do this in a manner which still allows one to maintain lower engine temps (I would assume). As long as the radiator wasn't confined and you didn't delete your fan, it should maintain in stop and go traffic as well shouldn't it? This would also give you a greater ability to block and smooth more of your bumper/airdam.

Your question could use some more context (like you pic #1).

Context:

Pic#1 is of common ventilation points on many higher end cars. It falls just behind the nose of the hood where frontal impact begins to dissipate. If you drive in the winter, it's the point where road grime begins to give way to a clean hood.

examples of the "line" or "break over" point I'm referring to:

Between the dark blue and the green on the hood, this is the area I was pointing out.


Most modern day factory hood vents are at this point, just as they are in pic #1 from my original post. That was the hood of a BMW.

The size of the ducting package isn't trivial. Also, immersing the engine itself in turbulent moving air has to provide some degree of engine cooling; sealing it in a close compartment should throw more load onto the water cooling subsystem.

True, and thanks for that diagram, very good addition to the conversation!!! It will indeed throw more load onto the cooling system. However, rather than letting random air come through and kind of help cooling, you are supercharging your cooling system by force feeding it the air from the duct. Surely this same modification could compensate for higher engine bay temps with an unmodified engine which is driven under incredibly low stress circumstances?? I don't claim to know this, it's why I started this thread

Consider the warm air intake. One has to admit sufficient air to supply the intake. So the radiator and induction have to be outside the sealed compartment.

Amateur roadracers, utilizing belly pans and restricted air intake from the bumper routinely see increases in cooling capabilities via radiator ducting like this. That's with bigger turbos, hotter engines, higher revs, and the same "sealed" situation you are discussing. Some of them place the intake in the ducting, some run CAI below the engine or to the wheel wells, some just leave an exposed filter in the "sealed" engine bay. If one was truly worried about it, they could incorporate small round ducts from the bumper to the engine compartment or create ducts to/from the wheel wells to ensure the engine didn't "suffocate". One could also incorporate a small cowl induction system. However, all of these ideas would be bringing in "cooler" air, not sure how much of a negative impact this would have on the warmer intake temps. But even vented in such a manner, the temps should be warmer than stock??? Ultimately, even with a belly pan, radiator ducting, and air dam, the compartment is far from being truly sealed.

There are other threads that suggest the bottomside or wheelwell as the best place to dump the radiatored air.

I have read those, especially a lot of the talk around the modded aerocivic by basjoos. I would be curious why you would vent under the car when so many people go out of their way to experiment with full length belly pans, rear diffusers, etc to smooth and control the flow under the vehicle. Same with the wheel well considering so many try to seal the wells and keep air out of it? Wheel wells would make sense to me if you vented behind the wheel, using the rad exflow to force air out of the well, and then an airblade or vent wall to straighten the airflow to follow the side of the vehicle without disrupting the flow around the car. Again, most of this knowledge I have taken from these very forums... I don't claim to know anything, I just read a lot hahaha.

Lets look at this again:


The green areas in front of the bumper and the lower windshield... Couldn't one, via radiator ducting and hood vent, make those areas into higher flow areas? Wouldn't this decrease wind resistance and increase airflow in the two biggest spots of resistance? This would in effect, decrease frontal load on the vehicle would it not? Allowing the air to flow straight through, and then pop out of the hood at an angle which could assist the air in flowing over the windshield. I'm just thinking out-loud at this point though. This wasn't the original intent behind my post



~C