Cooling plate
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From: San Marcos, TX
Originally Posted by oOweEe,Dec 5 2007, 01:47 AM
it seems like cutting a right sized hole in the stock rad plate is gettin best of both worlds. the aut plate will "work" and your radiator will get sufficient airflow.
can anyone point out a con to this method?
can anyone point out a con to this method?
Joined: Aug 2006
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Some dyno shops do have really large fans which would help with the ram effect.
Try standing behind the exhaust of a S2000 at 9,000 rpm. The huge volume of air that you feel coming out of the exhaust is being actively SUCKED through the intake. Blowing a little more air into the intake is not going to make much difference.
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Originally Posted by s2ka,May 13 2007, 10:22 PM
To put a slightly different perspective on this...
Try standing behind the exhaust of a S2000 at 9,000 rpm. The huge volume of air that you feel coming out of the exhaust is being actively SUCKED through the intake. Blowing a little more air into the intake is not going to make much difference.
The stock diverter plate does a good job of grabbing relatively cool air in front of the radiator and directing it at what is essentially a very powerful vacuum cleaner. Sure, a little air migh be grabbed from the engine compartment at idle, but at speed most of the air is coming in at ambient temperatures.
The stock system also forces air through the radiator, which is crucial to making the radiator work efficiently. Air takes the path of least resistance, if you allow it to spill around the radiator you won't get as much cooling effect and your engine will run a little hotter, reducing power and efficiency. The snorkels that go in front of the radiator also block cool air from hitting that portion of the radiator, which also decreases the engine's cooling efficiency. You'll never see the difference with the simplistic 3 bar gauge, but you would be able to measure it with a digital temp gauge in a controlled test.
And, the stock intake does a good job of providing debri-free and water-free air to the stock intake, which is not the case with many of the aftermarket intakes. It isn't worth it for Honda to use a low restriction air filter to gain a little throttle response... at the expense of letting dust into the engine if it isn't properly maintained.
Honda did a good job with the stock intake. Improving on it is not easy. Mugen and Spoon have the right idea with adding a hole in the upper area of the bumper that grabs completely fresh air and dumps it with a fairly straight path into the intake. The Comptech method isn't too bad as well, grabbing it from the wheelwell area.
Try standing behind the exhaust of a S2000 at 9,000 rpm. The huge volume of air that you feel coming out of the exhaust is being actively SUCKED through the intake. Blowing a little more air into the intake is not going to make much difference.
The stock diverter plate does a good job of grabbing relatively cool air in front of the radiator and directing it at what is essentially a very powerful vacuum cleaner. Sure, a little air migh be grabbed from the engine compartment at idle, but at speed most of the air is coming in at ambient temperatures.
The stock system also forces air through the radiator, which is crucial to making the radiator work efficiently. Air takes the path of least resistance, if you allow it to spill around the radiator you won't get as much cooling effect and your engine will run a little hotter, reducing power and efficiency. The snorkels that go in front of the radiator also block cool air from hitting that portion of the radiator, which also decreases the engine's cooling efficiency. You'll never see the difference with the simplistic 3 bar gauge, but you would be able to measure it with a digital temp gauge in a controlled test.
And, the stock intake does a good job of providing debri-free and water-free air to the stock intake, which is not the case with many of the aftermarket intakes. It isn't worth it for Honda to use a low restriction air filter to gain a little throttle response... at the expense of letting dust into the engine if it isn't properly maintained.
Honda did a good job with the stock intake. Improving on it is not easy. Mugen and Spoon have the right idea with adding a hole in the upper area of the bumper that grabs completely fresh air and dumps it with a fairly straight path into the intake. The Comptech method isn't too bad as well, grabbing it from the wheelwell area.
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From: Miami Beach, FL
When I bought my car, it had only the top half of an Injen CAI and it was sucking hot air from the radiator. I was able to lengthen it by adding a piece of another CAI that I had and bring the edge of the filter next to the inner fender well opening, I wrapped all of it with black insulating rubber from commercial air conditioning applications and built a box to encase the filter in it, also installed a flexible duct from under the bumper to the inner fender well opening and blocked the coolant hose on the intake manifold as well. It works great IMO
Joined: Nov 2002
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From: Durango, Colorado
I have been usine an AUT cooling plate/CAI for several years now, with the stock rad plate removed. I use a gutted stock air box set up, and have some scoops behind the grill to direct air into the "mouth of the AUT at speed. No matter how hard I drive, I have never seen more than three bars on the engine temp. gage.
I have found that this set-up gives me better mpg and better mid-range power, with no down-side.
I had a really good tech do my 30K mile service a few weeks ago, and the only thing he said about my set up is that I should remove my K&N filter element and go back to stock -- because my set-up was allowing more dirt into the air box and the K&N lacked the filtration to keep it out of my intake. He cleaned the intake, and I put the stock filter element back on, with no decrease in favorable results.
I have found that this set-up gives me better mpg and better mid-range power, with no down-side.
I had a really good tech do my 30K mile service a few weeks ago, and the only thing he said about my set up is that I should remove my K&N filter element and go back to stock -- because my set-up was allowing more dirt into the air box and the K&N lacked the filtration to keep it out of my intake. He cleaned the intake, and I put the stock filter element back on, with no decrease in favorable results.
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