I'm not sure if anyone can help but I have a question about airflow under the bonnet. As this affects the engine more than anything else I thought I'd post it here.
As I understand it the back of the engine gets quite a bit hotter than the front due to the restrictions on airflow through the engine bay. This is not good for performance (particularly under pressure). As the air enters the engine bay at the front it is hit by the radiator now, as we all know you need to put a fan behind the rad to draw the air through otherwise it would stall and you would form an air dam in front of the car. Therefore no air for the engine at all.
As the air enters the engine bay it is split between the rad and over the rad. I can understand those who install a plate to direct most of the air through the rad would get less turbulence under the bonnet and, hopefully, make a bit more of a difference to the radiator cooling. My question comes after that.
As the air enters the engine bay it becomes very turbulent. Once air behaves in this way it is extremely difficult to get it to calm down again. To prevent this from happening you would need to channel the air. The best way to do this is to reduce the pressure at the back of the engine bay thus drawing the air from the front to the back. As I can see the easiest way to do this would be to install some strips above the engine/below the bonnet that start at the width of the front opening and then curve away towards the back.
This should encourage more air to the back of the engine and thus help keep a more balanced temperature across all cylinders. In addition, reducing the turbulence under the bonnet will reduce the drag the car experiences.
I accept it is not just a matter of installing a couple of strips under the bonnet. There will need to be a rolloff designed around the lower end of the strip but, the aerodynamics of this are all quite rudimentary and already understood.
My question is this.
Has anyone ever done this sort of thing before or have any experience of doing something similar.
As I understand it the back of the engine gets quite a bit hotter than the front due to the restrictions on airflow through the engine bay. This is not good for performance (particularly under pressure). As the air enters the engine bay at the front it is hit by the radiator now, as we all know you need to put a fan behind the rad to draw the air through otherwise it would stall and you would form an air dam in front of the car. Therefore no air for the engine at all.
As the air enters the engine bay it is split between the rad and over the rad. I can understand those who install a plate to direct most of the air through the rad would get less turbulence under the bonnet and, hopefully, make a bit more of a difference to the radiator cooling. My question comes after that.
As the air enters the engine bay it becomes very turbulent. Once air behaves in this way it is extremely difficult to get it to calm down again. To prevent this from happening you would need to channel the air. The best way to do this is to reduce the pressure at the back of the engine bay thus drawing the air from the front to the back. As I can see the easiest way to do this would be to install some strips above the engine/below the bonnet that start at the width of the front opening and then curve away towards the back.
This should encourage more air to the back of the engine and thus help keep a more balanced temperature across all cylinders. In addition, reducing the turbulence under the bonnet will reduce the drag the car experiences.
I accept it is not just a matter of installing a couple of strips under the bonnet. There will need to be a rolloff designed around the lower end of the strip but, the aerodynamics of this are all quite rudimentary and already understood.
My question is this.
Has anyone ever done this sort of thing before or have any experience of doing something similar.