First Attempt at some aeromods-Dodge Neon

[HannahWCU]

First of all, sorry for the long post.

I have been reading about covering up some of the grill to improve aerodynamics. Since I have pretty consistent mileage numbers, I thought I would try this to see what effect it will have on my MPG. But I have a question, what temperature should I try to keep under on my radiator? From my scangage, I know my Neon stays pretty steady at 192F. But what would be too high? The coolant gauge on the IP is nothing more than an idiot light since it doesn't move when the water temp runs from 180-210. The reason I ask is that I did my first mod and think I covered too much. The temperature got as high as 210 (during some running around town). I came back home and opened up some more grill and went for another test run. Now it seems to be staying under 205 (193-204). This is on a relatively cool day - 70F.

I must say, my regular commute (50 miles one way) is 90% highway (60-70 MPH), so I am thinking this shouldn't be an issue at that speed. But on the weekends running around town I don't want to have to worry about it getting too hot. Thanks for the read

[HannahWCU]

First attempt pictures. I had some scrap lexan laying around. I thought I would try a temporary fix until I see what kind of improvements I have AND how much grill needs to be exposed.

[HannahWCU]

Second attempt, I should point out that on the Neon I have, the lower part of the honeycomb grill is actually blocked off from the factory.

[CigaR007]

Looking good so far.

On my car, the coolant temperature hovers around 184F-188F while cruising on the highway and gets up to 204F in heavy traffic. The electric cooling fan turns on at 204F. Took me several trial and error grille blocks to prevent as much as possible the fan from turning on.

I personally don't like when the coolant temp is above 210F. It is too high IMO. Besides, Summer is around the corner and must be taken into consideration when installing a grille block.

[HannahWCU]

Thanks for the info! I feel the same way about the 210. When I saw that on my scangage, I was like . But I think I will leave it the way it is and keep the Water Temp on the scangage and see where it goes. I think, at least for my commute, it will stay below 210F.

I also want to try to keep the fan from coming on. I dont want the additional load on the engine (I dont even run the fan on the HVAC to reduce the load).

[CigaR007]

Definitely keep track of the temperatures on your scangauge. You will then know what works best for your car in terms of grille blocking.

Experimenting is fun !

[cfg83]

HannahWCU -

I like it! Very stealthy.

CarloSW2

[deathtrain]

200 or below is fine and put that grill block in the front for better mpg.

[HannahWCU]

Originally Posted by deathtrain

200 or below is fine and put that grill block in the front for better mpg.

My thinking on leaving the center open was to maximize airflow to the radiator through the smallest opening possible. I could cover the middle (around the license plate holder) of the center and leave the sides, near the foglight openings clear. But it seems to me, that would reduce the cooling efficiency since the airflow would not have as direct route to the radiator. Am I looking at this wrong?

The center opening is the only one that goes directly to the radiator. Also, the passenger side opening (where a foglight would be in some models) actually goes to nothing. The drivers side opening appears to go to the AC, but since I don't usually run the AC, this shouldn't be an issue.

[euromodder]

Originally Posted by HannahWCU

My thinking on leaving the center open was to maximize airflow to the radiator through the smallest opening possible.

The center opening is the only one that goes directly to the radiator.

That's the way to go IMO.
You'll need some cooling anyway - especially when summer comes along.

You can always add some more blockage in winter.


Have you blocked the upper grilles as well ?

Any reasons to keep the plate on the front ?
It doesn't look like a licence plate.