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lunarhighway · 03-30-2009, 07:50 AM

would it be possible to create a grill shield, rather than a full grillblock?

something that sits in front of the grill, but doesn't actually reduce the open area of the grill, or at least doesn't seal the grill but rather prevent a direct ram effect.

the idea is that at speeds the air would not be rammed into the grill but bounce of the shield, skip over the openings at the side and continue around the car, just like a full grillblock

at low speeds when airflow is requires and the fan kicks in it will suck in the air along the sides, as if the block would not be there.

now is this possible?, because the pressure in front of the car will be higher than the pressure in the engine bay, so will air still be forced around the block and enter the radiator, or will the air in fact skip over the edges...

does anyone know the science behind it?

also as an extention of this it might be possible trough a removal of my grill incert etc, to relocate my topgrill opening from a forward faceing position to an upward faceing position... this would bring it into an area where the flow accelerates over the hood... this might bring the pressure below that of the engine bay so that at speeds the air entering the bottom grill would be sucked out trough the topgrill... it would pass over the radiator rather than trough it...wich seems like a much lower drag path... would this be desirable, from an aerodynamic perspective and how much would this impact cooling?

03-30-2009, 07:50 AM	#1 (permalink)
lunarhighway Master EcoModder Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: belgium Posts: 663 vectra a - '95 Opel Vectra GLS 90 day: 37.51 mpg (US) Thanks: 14 Thanked 61 Times in 44 Posts	grill "shield" rather than block? would it be possible to create a grill shield, rather than a full grillblock? something that sits in front of the grill, but doesn't actually reduce the open area of the grill, or at least doesn't seal the grill but rather prevent a direct ram effect. the idea is that at speeds the air would not be rammed into the grill but bounce of the shield, skip over the openings at the side and continue around the car, just like a full grillblock at low speeds when airflow is requires and the fan kicks in it will suck in the air along the sides, as if the block would not be there. now is this possible?, because the pressure in front of the car will be higher than the pressure in the engine bay, so will air still be forced around the block and enter the radiator, or will the air in fact skip over the edges... does anyone know the science behind it? also as an extention of this it might be possible trough a removal of my grill incert etc, to relocate my topgrill opening from a forward faceing position to an upward faceing position... this would bring it into an area where the flow accelerates over the hood... this might bring the pressure below that of the engine bay so that at speeds the air entering the bottom grill would be sucked out trough the topgrill... it would pass over the radiator rather than trough it...wich seems like a much lower drag path... would this be desirable, from an aerodynamic perspective and how much would this impact cooling?