Vented Hoods and Weather?
 

I tried performing a search on the boards before posting this but found very little conclusive conversation about this topic. Albeit I know it's hard to have anything conclusive because some people will run with functional vented hoods for years and have no qualms about it, and some are adamant about sealing it and keeping the vents for cosmetic reasons only. To each their own!

I'm from Canada, so I get a lot of snow during the winter months and a decent amount of rain in the summer. I park my car outside, fully exposed.

I know that people wash the engine bay with power washers and that cars are manufactured to be able to handle wet and dirty situations, but I also know that just because this is the truth, it doesn't necessarily mean that it can take a beating.

I invite FT86ers, especially the ones who have or have had vented hoods, to chime in this conversation! Is it okay to leave it functional, despite rain/snow? Or is it better to seal it up/fabricate a rain guard (assuming Seibon, which doesn't have rain guards)?

Let's talk! :P

I've wondered about this too.. I plan on getting the Seibon CF hood with the scoop and vents, but that thing has a lot of holes lol.

I'd be more worried about it being Seibon than about it being vented. A lot of users on this forum are unhappy about their Seibon parts.

Weird, didn't notice that. Well dang. Even if it isn't CF, I just want a nice hood that isn't flat.

Depends on where the vent is. If it's right above your alternator or battery, you're fucked. If it routes directly to your intake and somehow the precipitation gets past the filter and into the throttle body, you're fucked. Anywhere else? You're fine.

Wish there was a simple FRP/Carbon URAS style vented hood available for this car. They look so good.

Why not make removable covers? If your car is parked, shove the covers in. When you want to drive, take the covers out. Basically a "block" that matches the vent shape.

When your actually driving, the vents won't matter. As far as rain and snow is concerned.

That's something to consider, fabbing a guard, but guards cover from the underside right? I was wondering if it would become bothersome over time to take out and put back in, hence the discussion about whether or not its okay to go without one (or if that's the best option for guys like me who don't track).

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Just drive really fast in the rain. Problem Solved.

I had a 2000 Subaru 2.5RS (coupe, damn right!).

Representative sample:
http://www.rallitek.com/uploads/images_blog/34.jpg

It comes from the factory with the hood scoop and hood vents blocked off, because they were cool-looking without actually being necessary. I installed a gravelsport intake, so I took the hood scoop plate off. I opened up the hood vents because hey, why not?

The end result is that the engine bay got dirtier. Woo. Because of the hood scoop I had the occasional leaf and small bird blow in, but that was it. The hood vents had grilles on them, which kept larger stuff like kittens and children from falling in, but rain and dirt could come in just fine. No damage was done to the engine bay, it just got dirty.

I will say that the two hood vents would melt ice and snow like a beast when the car was running. Heat was very obviously escaping through the vents.

I had the hood pictured below on my car, the hole sat right above the accessory belt and made it slip a bit. Which isn't that great with a supercharger. It let wash and wax in when washing the car and rain in when it rained, engine bay looked like ass and went through 4 belts before i took it off.

Probably for the best I'm actually liking it more with the red now.

http://i.imgur.com/hnWJOZh.jpg

@Khorne who makes that hood?

I wonder how difficult it'd be to rig up a plug?

Some hoods come with drip/rain guards that install from underneath and still allow the vents to function.