Combating the heat

[mike the snake]

On my car, with FB radiator, Spal fans, and shroud, IMO the majority of the cooling is coming from the fans and shroud. Quite a bit of air is moved by the fans and the shroud utilizes All of the radiator. I feel a LOT of hot HOT air being blown by the fans.

This is fine for street and canyon driving, but I think when we get to extended WOT conditions (track use) it is a Lot more important to re-install the ducting/air dams.

It becomes super important for air-exchange, and proper pressures to help draw cool air in, and exhaust hot air out of the engine bay.

I've installed a different crash bumper bar that lets a lot more air in, along with cutting holes in my bumper, which helps with air IN at the high pressure area, and my skidplate and trip-strips mod helps with the low pressure air-OUT area.

Once I install the air dams/ducting around the radiator I hope my car will be able to handle track duty without cooling issues.

For me, it's about addressing ALL aspects of cooling. Simply bolting in a big radiator won't cut it I don't think.

[cdrazic93]

But, in modifying the radiator, such companies (possibly assuming the wrong way) would think that the customer would say "hey my old radiator had these ductile thingys on both sides of it, why doesn't this one? Maybe I should go buy one."

But yes, always assume the customer is an idiot. At the same time it's like knowing that all the vaccum hoses will pop off >10 psi. No one knew that until the inspection was taken place, maybe they thought the increased size would negate the need for ducting? Idk I like playing devils advocate.

[sw20kosh]

Any ideas on how to duct the front radiator/condenser with a crash beam and intercooler/piping in the way?

[mike the snake]

I'm planning on just getting in there with pieces of foam, cutting them oversize and stuffing them into position. Maybe using some adhesive to hold the foam in place.

This is what the factory uses on the OEM radiator.

[Synack]

Originally Posted by King Tut

Found it:

I took his plastic removal idea and modified it a bit because my car is daily driven and I wanted to give it function AND form. It might not do quite as good as his mod but I believe it still helps 50-75% of what he managed to do.

Before


After

[Reaper]

you can now reach your hand into the interior of your car from your engine bay. I drove with that piece off for a day and although it works very well my catch can is there and my car still smells like ethanol. Its also louder when you have the air set to outside. I removed all my clips and slotted my cowl around the wipers so if I ever have on overheating problem somewhere I can slide the entire cowl out. But I don't dd it like that. And theres the water issue.

[Synack]

Originally Posted by Reaper

you can now reach your hand into the interior of your car from your engine bay. I drove with that piece off for a day and although it works very well my catch can is there and my car still smells like ethanol. Its also louder when you have the air set to outside. I removed all my clips and slotted my cowl around the wipers so if I ever have on overheating problem somewhere I can slide the entire cowl out. But I don't dd it like that. And theres the water issue.

I designed the cuts after carefully looking at the angles for a while and it looks as though it will still be difficult for water to get in, but air can escape easily. I can't quite stick my hand in there. Maybe half a hand height could fit so it's not terribly prone to outside water or sabotage. It also looks like not much has changed from the outside so it doesn't look all cut up. If there is a problem with that bigger hole then I can put the rubber seal back on in that area, and that would give it less than an inch opening.

Overall I'm happy. Especially because the turbo is right there.

[Reaper]

what i was getting at is thats the intake for your blower motor (HVAC). Turn your air to vent from outside and there will be a flap in there near your battery and the cut you made that opens. You will be venting your turbo heat into your blower motor. It was sucking vapors from my catch can into my car interior in the same spot.

[Synack]

Originally Posted by Reaper

what i was getting at is thats the intake for your blower motor (HVAC). Turn your air to vent from outside and there will be a flap in there near your battery and the cut you made that opens. You will be venting your turbo heat into your blower motor. It was sucking vapors from my catch can into my car interior in the same spot.

Ah yes I see, my catch can is in the front. It's like our setups are reversed. My turbo is by the battery and my catch can is up front. I have yet to try outside air. I did see that vent when I was cutting the plastic and that's pretty much where I drew the line for cutting. It will still probably pull a decent amount of turbo air, but it won't be completely direct thankfully.

On a side note, my normal drive from Buckhead to Alpharetta this morning showed 10 degrees Fahrenheit colder in the engine bay. And the car didn't feel as bad as it normally does in the summer.

[Reaper]

well thats good. Ive said it over and over and over again that removing that cowl works. It just also sucks engine bay fumes into the car.

[Synack]

Originally Posted by Reaper

well thats good. Ive said it over and over and over again that removing that cowl works. It just also sucks engine bay fumes into the car.

I just tried outside air, it wasn't terrible but it was slightly noticeable. I only ever used it before to defog the windows and then immediately put it back to inside air.

My hot weather traffic with little movement test also saw about 6-7 degrees cooler too. It hasn't really been a concern yet, just the car acts more sluggish in traffic. I'm interested to see how this holds on a track.

[sw20kosh]

Does anyone know where that post is of the AVOturboworld car showing the foam ducting they did for the radiator? @AVOturboworld

[sw20kosh]

Originally Posted by Reaper

well thats good. Ive said it over and over and over again that removing that cowl works. It just also sucks engine bay fumes into the car.

Only if the Recirc button is not pushed in? Or all the time?

Have you tracked the car with the cowl removal? Does it truly evacuate hot air?

[Reaper]

I will say yes from highway tests, but im pretty sure I ended up trying to defrost my window with hot ethanol vapors