3 cylinder water cooled vs 2 cylinder air cooled thoughts on possible conversion

[freebeard]

EcoMCA: Still curios. Is it like this one?

[EcoMCA]

Originally Posted by freebeard

EcoMCA: Still curios. Is it like this one?

Nothing so large.
It's like this one....but in a project state ;p

[freebeard]

Thanks. Is there a name or badge on in anywhere?

[rmay635703]

When you convert your Subaru 360 I would recommend swapping a smart CDI since it already is RWD and has a fully enclosed suspension setup.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Originally Posted by EcoMCA

It reminds me the Fiat X1/9 somehow.

[EcoMCA]

It does look to have some design elements similar to X 1/9 from certain anngles, though not as aesthetic.
It's also smaller than an X 1/9.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

So, what are you going to do? Keep the Fiat engine or doing the Daihatsu swap? Is a switch from longitudinal to transverse engine out of question?

[Autobahnschleicher]

There is an issue with aircoolen engines from a fuel economy perspective:
They usualy have to run some kind of strong blower constantly.
This takes quite some energy and results in rather high parasitic losses.
Meanwhile a water cooled engine can run without a fan running in most situations.

There are exceptions to that, some motorcycles and airplanes can get awy without any kind of blower.
In airplanes the weight savings are a significant, but the aerodynamic downsides are sometimes not quite worth it even for them.
(see liquid cooled V12 vs. air cooled radial in WW2)

[Piotrsko]

Not so much. A radial can be inside a NACA cowl and the added thrust of the cowl negates much of the cooling drag. The liquid cooled engines were smaller cross section thus lower drag but the cooling systems were draggy as all heck.

[Autobahnschleicher]

Not quite correct, liquid cooled engines also had cooling systems producing thrust.
They usualy used a ducted radiator for that as it allowed for a small duct, creating less drag.
As the radiator was relatively large and angled, the pressure diffrence was kept to a minimum.
However the temperature difference between theice cold intake air and warm/hot air meant a significantly higher volume of hot air exiting the converging duct at higher speed than the plane was flying at despite beeing at a lower pressure than at the entrance.
It works a more efficiently with liquid cooled engines as the duct can be designed more efficiently that way.