Remove skid plate for better cooling?

[20ls01]

Looked online and found a few people mentioning that skid plates increase engine bay temps but never decreasing it.

Havent heard of anyone removing the skid plate on the CTR to help reduce engine bay temps and overheating on the track.

My thinking is the airflow passing through the bottom of the car would act as a vacuum and draw the engine bay heat with it.

I thought i throw this idea out there and would like to hear what people think.

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[TheCanadian]

Underbody aero has an effect at high speeds. I wouldn’t mess with it.

You’d probably make cooking worse because of high pressure underneath the car leaking into the bay.

 

[MadMage]

My thinking is the airflow passing through the bottom of the car would act as a vacuum and draw the engine bay heat with it.

Fluid dynamics and heat transfer are not that simple.

Not that it might not help. But the only way I would bother is if you fully instrumented the car and monitored engine performance and ambient conditions. Anecdotal stories are going to be more driven by emotion than science.

 

[Jwolf]

Not something I'd mess with.

Get a front grille and hood vents. Because of your location, I wouldn't half ass this sort of stuff.

 

[yansag1982]

There is an aerodynamic reason why its there, so no.

You might reduce engine temps by a few degrees but youll also increase your lap times and youll be wondering why...

 

[NapalmEnema]

I'll take - things you don't remove because they were put there for a reason by educated engineers with access to a wind tunnel, for a thousand Alex?

 

[DRUSA]

I proposed this idea a few months back in the "over-heating ctr thread" on here, got shot down. I've been trying to do more aero research since then. Here's a good video that should help:

Under Car Airflow Pressures

I feel that removing the panel is going to mess with the under car airflow, messing with downforce. You are causing turbulence under the car and creating an artificial air dam, reducing and moving the pressures under the car around. Redesigning the skid plate might work. Ideally, I wanted to make a custom radiator support and run a V mount setup, it's what the Honda TCR CTR's are doing.

With the EPA cracking down on companies right now, this could be all done and remain 100% legal in CA as you are allowed to make cooling and intercooler changes on gasoline vehicles.

 

[dellyjoughnut]

I personally would send some of my exhaust piping to be coated with a thermal barrier coating (TBC) internally and externally. I've looked into this. TBCs have plenty of use for turbine blades in jet engines as well as controlling engine bay temperatures to an extent. It would be beneficial to apply on the catalytic converter though I don't know how that fares against the visual smog check. The benefit of a TBC versus wrapping the exhaust is an insulative layer that will not rust the piping.

A larger radiator has limited effect.

 

[WhiskeyTango]

Heat rises. It won't get "sucked" out the bottom of the car.

 

[boosted180sx]

its all about positive and negative pressure for air flow.
you cant just remove the skid plate and expect the heat to evacuate from that zone.

 

[NapalmEnema]

its all about positive and negative pressure for air flow.
you cant just remove the skid plate and expect the heat to evacuate from that zone.

I would also assume a LOT of instability introduced at 100mph + - Those plates generally assist with ensuring the car stays stable at high speed as well.

 

[Fountainhead]

just get a bunch of thermocouples, attach them to various points on the engine/system you're interested in cooling off, and get a digital chart recorder to attach the multiple thermocouples to, and drive it around at various speeds, export the data you've taken, and examine the temps and see if it has any effect? Also just have one at the entrance to the radiator and one at the exit below the firewall. It's worth a try and you'd know for sure if the airflow changes temperatures enough to warrant the change.

Of course you'd want to do with/without skidplate measurements.

 

[MadMage]

just get a bunch of thermocouples, attach them to various points on the engine/system you're interested in cooling off, and get a digital chart recorder to attach the multiple thermocouples to, and drive it around at various speeds, export the data you've taken, and examine the temps and see if it has any effect? Also just have one at the entrance to the radiator and one at the exit below the firewall. It's worth a try and you'd know for sure if the airflow changes temperatures enough to warrant the change.

Of course you'd want to do with/without skidplate measurements.

Here, hold my beer...

 

[boosted180sx]

I would also assume a LOT of instability introduced at 100mph + - Those plates generally assist with ensuring the car stays stable at high speed as well.

it assists it by the air flow being positive and neg pressure too.

 

[NapalmEnema]

just get a bunch of thermocouples, attach them to various points on the engine/system you're interested in cooling off, and get a digital chart recorder to attach the multiple thermocouples to, and drive it around at various speeds, export the data you've taken, and examine the temps and see if it has any effect? Also just have one at the entrance to the radiator and one at the exit below the firewall. It's worth a try and you'd know for sure if the airflow changes temperatures enough to warrant the change.

Of course you'd want to do with/without skidplate measurements.

It's easy guys, you just need to build a fully functional wind tunnel in your driveway or somewhere with some space and ensure you have a below ground dyno. This will allow you to run the car at any speed while checking variance in wind dynamics as you remove pieces. A good do it yourself option (but highly ecommended) would be to design and build precision fans setup that can simulate wind force of +/- 100mph. You just plop those guys in front of your car and let er rip! (HOA may have issue, so perhaps making all of this 100 meters below ground so they aren't wise to it would be a good idea.) Don't worry, building a car elevator is shockingly simple... Once you have isolated all variables you should be able to determine if removing the $100 dollar part helps or hurts.

#Redneckironman

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