Nose job for 1999 Honda CRV

[Xringer]

A chin scoop would be danged cool, but the plate holder is only 8" from the radiator.

So, I'm going to plan for using the bottom half for the intake.

I don't know if it would be worth it to roll off the edge of the plate, but I wonder if I could tilt the whole plate backwards on the bottom 15 or 20 degrees.?.
That might direct some of the air hitting the plate down into the intake.?. And maybe reduce the plate's drag a tad?
License plate Scoop??

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Those two tie-down brackets near each end of the skid-plate are pretty solid. They both have 2 holes in them that would seem to allow bolting on a couple of brackets that could extend forward to hold a cross brace.
An air dam could be bolted on that cross brace..
I was thinking perhaps 3/16" aluminum, and wondered how close it should be to the ground.?.

Has anyone ever make an air dam that would fold under if they hit something in the road? Like mount it on a hinge with a compressible support behind it?

[Xringer]

Originally Posted by worldskycat

Interesting idea concerning the bra... I will be very curious to hear your results. I may go that route if indeed the numbers are favorable.

A note on radiators... I have been doing a lot of reading of late on the subject of cooling and it is my understanding that a radiator cools because of the variance between the high pressure zone in front of the radiator to the low pressure behind the radiator. If I am right (and I am sure that someone will politely correct me if I am wrong) then the real concern would be having the air pressure behind the radiator increase due to a modification, because that would increase your engine temp.

I took a closer look at the openings in my two stacked radiators (one for the AC) and man! Those are some tiny holes for air to push through. I can't see how fast air flow from the front could do much of anything.
The surface turbulence on the forward surface of the radiator is going to be blocking big time..
So, I think you are dead right with the low pressure on the back side.
The vacuum in the engine compartment must be pretty strong to suck enough air though that mesh of honeycomb cells. They are so small that little gains of sand are stuck in some of them..

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I took the plate off today and scoped out how I'm going to do the tape-up job around the plate supports.
I might find some good tape to use, so I can leave it on for a while.


I was thinking of making a little pointed air foil / vertical air splitter that will sit in the center of the lower intake hole.
I would make the TE of the splitter flat and wide enough to fit across the face
of that vertical steel strap in the center of the radiator.

When I reduce the air input to that single opening, I think anything that can be done streamline the intake air flow to the radiator is going to help.

[Xringer]

I had some spare time this evening, so I taped up the intakes. (including the upper slots & Honda Logo).


The horizontal center (plastic) cross piece is set back a bit, so the tape is angled
back towards the rear. That might drive more air into the lower intake,
but the plate blocks a lot of the upper section.


Tomorrow I'll make the divider wedge to stream the air around that center radiator support.
That should increase the positive pressure a tad.

I took a 15 mile test run up Rt3 and back to see what the coolant was going to do.
It's running about 10 degrees hotter. Yesterday's ave was 185f and after the tape job,
it's running at about 195f ave. The outside temp dropped during my ride to about 70f.

Once I was back in my drive way, I waited about 2 minutes and the fan(s) came on.
(There are two, one or both came on).
The SG2 displayed 202f and dropped towards 190, turning off the fan in about 30 seconds.
I'm guessing the trigger point is 200f. This was typical fan operation before the tape.
Now, I have to wait for a hot day and do some more highway miles.

Can't tell anything about the MPG until I get a few runs in, but I drove a very gas-wasting trip and oddly,
it still got 30 MPG. Placebo effect is strong today!

On the floor of the lower intake, about 1" from the radiator, is a steel fence about 1" tall.
I'm wondering if I should put in a false floor from the plastic bottom of the intake, that reaches up to the steel fence??
Basically, make the air flow go over the fence smoothly, so it's closer to the radiator face before it becomes super turbulent.?.

Comments please..


Cheers,
Rich

[digitaldissent]

yeah I like the false floor idea, I want to do something similar to my car, channel the air directly at the radiator using the smallest opening as possible.


looks good so far!!

[Xringer]

The false floor is just tape, but it seems like it may hold up for a while.
The splitter nose is a 3"x6" coroplas half-cut and folded in the center.

It's hard to see in there when you are trying to stick the tape in. It's so black.
Maybe I should have used regular silver tape.. Be easier to see.

I think this configuration might perform a little better. If it holds up for a while,
I'll be able to decided if it's worth buying a car-bra or just keep buying a roll of
black 3M duct tape once in a while.

I'm ready for another test run. But I hate to waste the gas!!

Cheers,
Rich

[Xringer]

It's 92.5 degrees here today (Just north of Boston) and I took out the V for
a little road test. Within a very few minutes on the back roads going up to I-95,
the water temp was in the 185-195 range.
We had the AC on for 95% of the trip. It was HOT out there!

Once we were on the highway, it stayed around 185d. Only after we were
heading back home on side streets did it peak up to 202. I assume the fan came on.

I reset the current average MPG on the trip meter when we entered I-95.
I set the CC for 53 MPH, the AC to medium and enjoyed the ride.
We made a 10 mile loop (down to Rt-2 and back) and saw an average 33 MPG.

If I delete the mud flaps, turn off the AC and CC, I should be able to easily hit
my goal of 35MPG highway..

My work here is almost done!

[Xringer]

The tape is still hanging in there, and the testing continues.. (Very slowly).



Edit: 08-05-2008
Did a 60 mile highway loop today. Temps were nice around 80, but the traffic
was a bit heavy. Stayed near 55 on the way out. 32.3 MPG.
Averaged around 52 on the way back. 33.8 MPG.
Giving me an average of 33.05 round trip. (Same as the last test).

So, Now I can proceed to try other mods, looking for improvement on 33.