Hi, has anyone experienced drilling holes into a front grill for better air feeding? Mine has stock airbox with K&N panel filter. Temperature of air going into engine gets very high on TD.
The internal combustion engine is basically an air powered system the more air you can get into an engine the better, and, assuming it is set up correctly more air draws more fuel which combusts to give POWER Of course just drilling random holes in the front of a car is not the right way to go, they need to be carefully positioned, possibly ducted and concentrated - compression gives more oxygen in a given space, as does colder air (more likely to get a good ¼ mile on a dry cold january day than a hot august one) Controlled focing of air into the engine, is not a new phase or FAD, anyone heard of a Turbocharger or a Supercharger
Was the colder air comment not what the original post was asking? I've relocated my air filter behind the headlamp on my R26 for cooler air which I would think is best but if you drilled hole(s) as per the pic, especially if you then ducted the air to the airbox, is that a bad thing? Not sure if the 250 airbox has an opening like the R26 that you could attach a hose to?
Yes that's what is the important concept to take in, the ducting of the air to the relevant area, EG the intake or the intercooler, or even the brakes will all give real benefits (in their own way, especially the brake cooling ). I have seen holes just drilled into the front of the grill or grill area without any ducting or even planning, this is likely to disturb the designed airfrom around and inside the engine area, which could actually reduce cooling where it's needed. I've also seen a few Meganes with the whole (lower) front grill removed - especially those with aftermarket intercoolers so that the intercooler gets all the air before it goes to the Radiator Colder charge air is more useful than cooler coolant I also run ducted air to my K&N 57i which is in the suggested location from K&N the duct runs from the lower grill area back under the battery tray to the Cone
The challenge is to get sufficient air through the intercooler. As has already been stated air must get out as well as in! We have run tests with the undertray removed and also a 'gurney flap' under the car (actually between the little flips in front of the wheels). Both contributed to an inlet temperature reduction engine side of the intercooler.. We checked this by simulating with a reduced external fan speed on the r/r. Power difference is worth having. Next step is to replace the undertray (best kept on in wet winter conditions) and cutting some slots in it just in front of the 'gurney'.
Having a non vented (one piece) undertray has a certain advantage in downforce... BTW. How hot does your temperature of intake air get when on TD? I just came back from one on 18°C and my temperature has gone up to 60°C after one lap on 1,2km curcuit. Ive got a Forge large Intercooler and K&N pannel filter.
have you tried removing the long rubber seal between the A pillars the one that seals back of bonnet to engine compartment ??
Not yet... it is def worth trying! What about an open induction kit? Has anyone reported a decrease of IAT?
not sure what mean by open induction the rubber seal takes just seconds to remove, pull it off with one hand, then just seconds to push back again
I compete in UK hill climbs which are mainly 2nd and 3rd gear(i.e relatively low forward speeds for airflow) - with the added problem that we can queue for our run for several minutes - all adding to heat soak. Coupled with a Wagner intercooler (fitted by Ktec) inlet temps are down from 60C to about 50 - enough to make a difference. At our speeds downforce is irrelevant and also the undertray will not do much even at higher speeds as the rest of the underside of the car is not properly enclosed anyway!
After some readings this idea came up. Could my problem (high IAT) be due to a Forge intercooler? I´ve read that few people experienced the change from Forge to Airtec or Wagner and got cooler IAT... I usually have IAT of 55°C when ambient is around 20-25°C.
First questions to need an answer are ... Where are you taking the temperature from? The intake temp is available via the OBD II port, best to use this for consistency? what is the set running conditions - Time and /or Distance figures must be controlled to give viable readings, ideally these should all be taken on the same track to account for all variables Do you have a standard test base line (totally stock vehicle and engine) under the same conditions There is also an issue with track running at this time of the year A lot of the Track cars used by the members here are "summer cars" this time of year most will be garaged for the winter
It was meassured by RS monitor. My car is garaged too. I am trying to solve problems that occurred during trackdays at summer. I just wanted to know what IAT should I aim to. What is “normal” temperatures that are people getting with a car like this... I think there must be something that needs an upgrade when my IATs are plus 40deg C than ambients.
The RS monitor takes it's readings from the Same source as the ODBII port, I believe, so that should be the Air Temp sensor just prior to the Throttle body (I run a 225 as a daily driver, which uses the same F4R turbo engine as the Mk3 so should work the same) As you are still using the standard air box, I would look at that first - Feeding the intake for this with cold air from around the bottom area of the front bumper should help - As a test you could look at using a length of flexible aluminium ducting to feed the air flow to the air box, Not sure if you have an input duct on the mark 3 that you can attach to or if you could just aim the airflow from the new ducting to the airbox - if this gives an advantage you can of course use a bespoke Open type air input system from someone like ITG or K&N rather than the cheap test ducting
