Doing a track day tommorrow .. anyway, thinking of removing the metal plates under the bonnet vents to aid cooling/air intake, has anyone else done this? Has anyone had problems doing this? paint peeling off the bonnet?
96 WRX Cheers.

 

Hey Jody, wish i could of made it tomorrow but too busy at work, no doubt you and Martin will have fun..

No harm in removing the vents for the day...

Jay

 

Removing the vents will increase your under bonnet temps, not decrease them, they are blanked off for a reason, ie they dont do anything, they were there only for the rally cars and their engine layout (grp A) is totally different.
If you want to do anything, check the condition of your mechanical parts that will suffer greatest, engine (check all fluid levels and ensure they are fresh), gearbox (check also to see its topped up), diffs (yup these will take a battering), tyres etc.

Tony

 

So how does that work?

 

Removing them cause air flow from a different direction which causes turbulence under the bonnet, so instead of the air flowing from front to back and out under the car, it goes front to all over the place and leaves hot spots which increase the under bonnet temps, not a good thing

Tony

 

It's all about air flow , 911 porsches are the same
Some vehicles are designed for a stream of air to flow through cool in hot out by removing what you may think Is a air flow restriction can cause the air flow to stall and keep the warm air static , instead of flowing through

 

The same goes for under trays on some cars
It's not just to stop mud and crud they also help create an air channel

 

slow in , fast out

 

So what you saying is a cold air feed of any sorts will increase under bonnet temps.....Never caused my car any issues in over 25 trackdays, i had a direct feed to the filter and one vent removed.

What about cars that have FMIC's and still have the bonnet scoop fitted.....id like to hear from a Tuner on this because im very sceptical by how much of a temp increase.

 

Not me I'm slow in and out

To keep cool , a nice rad is the way to go , I think but not sure but wrapping causes a drop in engine bay heat but still retains it in the motor itself

 

No mate it's right I've encounted it before
Like I said not with scoobys but I'm sure they would be the Same
The temp rise might only be very small ,so small it's not really any detriment to engine running ,
Like I said my 911 was a big no no removing blanking plates

 

Thats what im getting at Tony, fair enough if the temps raise but at what expence.....everydays a school day...

 

it could be minimal but if you think about it hot air is trying to escape and you create a new opening the cool air can then flow in and stall the warm air thats trying to get out

unless you can direct the cool air in a controlled manner it just creates a battle hot against cold ,

 

Hmmmmm, i think im going to call WRC spares and see what they say...

 

on the other hand my filter on my induction is right under my vent so with no cover there would be an advantage to run without it
we could be splitting hairs
i wouldnt lose any sleep over the amount we could be talking
and also my 911 was air cooled so it was a lot more important

 

lol lol

****

 

Cheers for the comments guys, my HKS mushroom filter is under the vent aswell so does the intake gain, weight out the increase in under bonnet temps?

 

Which track are you going to tomorrow? I'm heading to Silverstone with work tomorrow

 

i,ll stick my neck out and say
if your intake is close to a nice source of fresher ,cool air it would out weigh the minimal rise in under bonnet temp by a long way
we all know engines like cool fresh air so its not gonna be a bad thing at all

 

Exactly my thoughts hence the questions.

 

Build up your pace slowly, don't go ***** out on the first couple of laps, you'll overheat tyres, brakes etc, and the rest of the session will be crap! Learn the circuit, keep an eye in your mirrors occasionally (coming onto straights) and most of all have fun

 

sorry my new special friend
yeah what you were saying was correct ,if you know where your cool air is going i cant really see much of a problem , its only when you have intakes tucked right inside a warm engine bay or a very hot motor under something approaching race conditions i would forsee a problem

 

PM Harvey or do a search if you have the time to trawl, but it's been covered numerous times

 

FWIW, It's easier to remove the drivers headlamp if you're really keen to get maximum cold air to an induction cone

I have this for trackdays



TBH the biggest restriction on track time will be what sort/condition intercooler you have and general state of fluid servicing. Your car will get very hot ! clean oils, effective coolant and clean brake fluid are paramount imho

 

Could debate this all day.......

OP, don't worry about removing the metal plates and the paint on your bonnet won't peel.

Make sure your car is mechanically sound and that you've got plenty of meat on your brake pads as you'll be using these VERY hard.

Good luck.

 

Airfield track. Cheers all

 

OK to answer this.
Tony is correct, removing the vent does bugger up the airflow and doesnt help under bonnet temps.
I think it was Harvey that tested it.
What does help is removing the rubber strip on the bonnet above the headlight on that side.

Or if your radical like 53WRX why not the whole light

To the OP you probably want to lose the HKS mushroom at somepoint and go for some different kind of induction, as scoobs dont like em much

 

Like that headlight with vents in ,where can i get one from for a facelift ? does it do the job ?

 

Yeah loads of fresh air

Fitted without the grille I made you can see the direct line of flow to the RCM Cone





I haven't track tested it yet as my gearbox blew a week before Brands and I used my Hawkeye instead. Soon to be remedied

Look out for 'morette type' lights on ebay that are spares or repair. I removed all the lighting fitments to make what I had in mind