DISCLAIMER: The procedures, methods and products written up here was for my circumstances only. I make no assertions that your results will be the same nor do I claim that this is the best way to do it. USE AT YOUR OWN RISK!

Recently, some people have wondered what a "Radmat" is and where to buy them. They are NOT sold anywhere, they are home made. The material is a "bubble wrap" sandwiched between two layers of aluminum foil (total thickness about 3/8" to 1/2"). This stuff is found in hardware stores and is used for water heater insulation. They come in different widths but I get the one that most closely spans the top the the area over the rad.
(My temp recording experiments from over a year ago in the summer's heat has shown this mod to be the most effective in terms of reducing intake air temps and cost. With just the radmat in place, the intake air temp at the throttle body could be reduced to within 5*C of ambient. Wrapping the rubber intake air hose will knock off another 3 degrees.)
The first pic is the raw material and beside it is the finished radmat. You can finish it off with a black duct tape edging to make it look a bit more presentable if you like. Note the notch where the mat slides under the air intake horn. It also has cutouts for the rad cap and the the two rubber hood bumpers. There is also a cutout for the hood prop. I put a length of double sided carpet tape along the leading edge of the mat just in front of the intake horn so there is no possibility of the wind lifting it up and causing a hindrance to air flow. The rest of the mat is held down quite nicely by the hood prop and where the cutouts are for the rad cap and hood bumpers.


Here's a pic of the cross section of the material:


Here's a couple of pics of the radmat installed on two different cars. Note that the "notch" must be worked under the air intake horn so that the trailing edge of the radmat is flush up against the front of the airbox.

 

this is an interesting post -- thanks for taking the time to contribute

 

Good writeup. Thanks!

 

x,

You originally made this, what, a year ago? I still think it is the best bang for your buck mod out there, bar none. It costs like $5 and 20 minutes of your time, but the gain is impressive. I made one myself shortly after you originally posted about it, but ended up taking it off shortly thereafter to put the AEM CAI on. I've always LOVED the type of inventions necessity creates!

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by MacGyver
[B]x,

You originally made this, what, a year ago?

 

Awesome for the value. Thanks again Dave, I can feel the difference on a hot day. It doesn't bog as much as before, normal launch ~2000 does the trick.

 

Thanks for radmat idea. Didn't go all out like above but good enough to feel difference by covering hot part of radiator where air flows in. Tiestraps used to secure radmat material.

 

I see you've got the rubber intake tube insulated as well. That's good for reducing the intake air temp another 2-3 degrees.

 

I assume this is not legal for autocross (stock). Correct?

 

I have no idea. I don't auto-X. Ask this question in Competition and Racing.