Is this a good idea for cooling? (radiator duct/lip)

[GSLENK]

I'm thinking about making a lip/duct sort of deal. 1st pic is the cardboard version. I plan to seal it to the "frame" of the car. It should be able to bolt to the cross-member, and the "frame" area immediately under the crash shocks.

I dont plan on it being much lower than the oem bumper lines. Maybe 2" below the IC max.

I think I would have to cut the bottom of the bumper out as photo-shopped.

Any thoughts/suggestions concerns?

I have a 1x4 ft sheet of 3/16th" aluminum to get me started. and thats what I made the mock cardboard lip out of.

3rd pic red lines are where shrouding will be behind the bumper

4th pic was my first air "scoop" thing made of plastic sheet. I bolted it to the cross member, and used long bolts to bolt it under the IC with a 3" gap. I did see some improvement on temps at highway speeds.

Would this create any inefficiencies? excessive drag? too much pressure behind the fmic?

Is it a waste since the air has to take a mean bend to get up to the radiator?

 

[Chill Kill Kult]

the only concern would be aerodynamic, and that's hard to guess at. A little down force is certainly a good thing for spirited driving, too much will kill your MPG (if that is something you might be worried about) and take away some acceleration. Worse than that is lift, since the front end of the car does most of the braking and all of the turning - most modern cars are designed with some lift at highway speeds for increased MPG, this is how some cars turn real scary at way above highway speeds.

I'd keep it conservative, probably like a 5* downward angle. Curious if you were going to seal the back of it in front of the intercooler or in front of the radiator?

 

[GSLENK]

Im not too worried about aerodynamics, nor gas mileage. I am just hoping this wont be counter productive.

In other words, If anyone thinks this is a BAD idea, please speak up. I really dont want to do any unnecessary hacking. I think im going to thrown on a 180* thermostat before I continue any further and see what happens. Maybe I just make some ducting and less lip. I would prefer to have the FMIC to be as efficient as possible.

But I want constant 190* or at least guaranteed sub 200*.

 

[phunny]

I tried it on my last DSM and it worked for about a day then it got all bent up. Even when it worked it did not work all that well. My new setup on the other hand is phenomenal.

 

[LandoAWD]

Someone on here did a small scoop some time ago, ad had good results. Obviously boxing the FMIC to the rad will show the biggest gains in cooling.

 

[VisionPaintball]

I was thinking of doing this same thing. Since installing a big fmic, my temps are too high. I am also going to install 2 pusher fans in front of the radiator.

 

[GSLENK]

Someone on here did a small scoop some time ago, ad had good results. Obviously boxing the FMIC to the rad will show the biggest gains in cooling.

I know that for IC temps:
Boxing IC to rad is best.


So as far as coolant temps:
Boxing the IC directly to the Radiator is better than making a mouth for more air beyond the IC, in addition to the air through the IC?


Please explain. I am having a hard time wrapping my brain around this. It seems intuitive that more air through the rad is more cooling. as long as airflow is smooth (not turbulent or choppy).

I see the "mouth" containing the fmic plus area around it as more flow to the rad, compared to sealing the fmic to the rad. which seemingly would flow less. Unless this creates an extreme turbulence between the fmic and rad and no pressure gain to help force air through the radiator.

So help me decide, seal FMIC completely to the radiator? or seal more than the fmic to the radiator (free space beyond the fmic)

Regardless of whatever the front looks like, the rear will be sealed to the radiator, Im trying to decide if I should stop at the fmic, or go beyond its boundaries to direct more air in.