As I was driving to work this morning I looked at my hood and realized that during the 15 minute commute, the frost on my hood had not melted from the heat an engine running at full operating temp. So the heat shield is doing what it's supposed to, but why keep engine heat in the engine bay? Aluminum is good at releasing heat so the hood would almost act as a heat sink (although effects might be minimal). What do you guys think the reason for the shield is? Just wondering.

Edit: I should mention, I'm talking about the big one attached to the hood itself, not the one that shields heat from the header.

 

I would venture to say it's possible that this will prolong the life of the paint on the hood. Also in areas where the temperature drops to extreme lows, this may actually aid in maintaining operating temp.

 

Iirc, there might be a problem with paint discoloration with too much heat soaking into the hood. Also, there may be noise management issues involved.

 

We had this discussion over at Club RSX a while ago regarding whether or not it was a safety item. Some people believed it would smother an engine fire if one were to happen.

I believed this to be untrue simply because the base-model RSX in Canada never had one from the factory.

because of this I removed it. It ended up making the engine more noticeable, and was something I never regretted doing. The only dangerous part is the edges of the liner are SHARP... I sliced the shit out of my fingers because I didn't pay attention to how sharp it was.

I may still do this with the S2000 as well.

 

During an engine fire the liner will burn. It will burn enough that it will cause fire damage to areas of the engine bay that might not otherwise get fire damage. Been there done that.

 

This was discussed here within the last few weeks. It's to prevent the paint from blistering over time. Take a look at some older cars where the hood paint has blistered and peeled off. The owners have removed the insulation for whatever reason.