Engine air intake on the roof?

[Big time]

What do you guys think about placing the engine air intake on the roof?
There you get both a high pressure zone and the engine sucks the boundary layer reducing flow separation.

Formula 1 and other sport and race cars place their intakes high up.
Maybe you'll need a roof-wide shallow intake?

Of course you'll need lengthy hoses.

[BamZipPow]

The reasons why the air intake on Formula 1 race cars are above is because the engine is mounted directly behind the driver and the pathway is the shortest and the cleanest fer direct air.

Unless yer going fer a RAM air effect, I don't see the advantage of placing it on the roof. Maybe if you were doing a lot of water/debris crossing...

[kach22i]

I agree with the above post. And just want to remark about the curious behind the headlight style intake source on my S-10 pickup truck.

I suppose the location is good for keeping rain out, but that's about it.

S10 4x4 Pick Up pictures by kach22i - Photobucket



From what I can gather on other makes, this is a very common layout.

[RunningStrong]

Formula 1 car air-intakes are placed high for a number of reasons.

It takes advantage of the body work that is already there, a requirement for roll-over safety. It also allows the heavier cooling systems (oil, water, electronics) to be placed lower in the body for better handling. With a mid-rear engine layout it also means relatively little plumbing is required.

Some road cars utilise them, but the majority you will see are fake. Placing the intake in open air is only really required for a ram-air effect, otherwise it can introduce unneeded increases in frontal area.

[kach22i]

The intake on the roof is used on many race cars. I think to get ram-air effect engine intake.

Sample:
190. Sports Car Racing in North America: Mid-season 2011 « murphythebear.com


Of course when your engine is in the middle or rear of the car it helps. But it's seen on front engine cars too, with a very useful purpose on road rally or off-road type vehicles (dust and debris avoidance).

[justing]

I had a 1996 s-10 SS with the same filter location. I took the box out and with a Dremmel I cut the front opening as large as I could I also had a drop in K&N filter. I dont remember it having a negative effect on my mpg. 4.3 v6 and I got 24mpg consistantly.

[Fat Charlie]

We had a "ram air" hack intake in the shop recently. It looked like he had used gutter dounspout parts to duct from under the bumper to the air box! If you saw this rig in a partking lot, you could have seen the cool "ram air intake for more power." The techs called it a drinking straw. I recommended replacing the air filter with a Britta, but the writer didn't try to sell the job.

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by Big time

What do you guys think about placing the engine air intake on the roof?
There you get both a high pressure zone and the engine sucks the boundary layer reducing flow separation.

Formula 1 and other sport and race cars place their intakes high up.
Maybe you'll need a roof-wide shallow intake?

Of course you'll need lengthy hoses.

The lowest pressure on a car is just ahead of the windshield header and placing an inlet for a front-engined car on the roof would cause a scavenging effect causing the pistons to work against a vacuum rather than atmospheric pressure.