Now the m’sport cover as I hear helps to reduce cabin temps by quite a long way right…
But I’m not too sure about getting one, not so much for rear visibility but also for looks (GJOB!), too much silver!!! And I like the clear cover
But I was thinking of getting my trusty dremel (that’s yet to be purchased anyhoo!) and cutting out some “slats” each side to help with cooling… Kinda F40-esque IYSWIM… I’m not too fussed about stuff getting wet as it shouldn’t be too much of a worry anymore
It was after bedford and I was finding the heatsoak into the cabin pretty horrendus!
83man has got some perspex “scoops” on his engine cover, & I’m pretty sure he posted some pictures 2 to 3 years ago. Hopefully a search will turn the thread up for you.
It’s likely the issue is getting the air out as opposed to getting it in so I’m not convinced that scoops would help. First thing to do is take out the area behind the number plate and replace with mesh then it’s motorsport engine cover time.
Just cutting holes will not be enough, you need to either channel air in from the outside or have a naca duct on the inside to draw the air in from the side. The advantage of fitting these ducts from the outside is that they would cover up any delamination if it is not to severe. However the amount of air drawn in is not going to be near as much as what could be achieved by fitting a lengthened roof scoop as that catches the air before it goes over the windscreen. I spent guite some time with the huge fan in front of the car in the dyno room, i could not stand in front of the fan, and some water to see what the air was doing and the roof scoop was most definitely the drawing in the most air, this air exhausts through the holes cut in the number plate more than it does through the cover at speed. The cover eally helps at slow speeds where heat radiates up and through the vents which i think is what you are after.
I would suggest some ,alot, heat shield on the manifold plate at the exhaust which helps alot. As well as some number plate venting to get the hot air out at low speed, my metal vents there get extremely hot to the touch after town driving, so there is alot of heat in that area.
What i am basically trying to say is that 2 vents are not going to make too much of a difference at low speed, perhaps at high speed. But it would take more than 2 to get rid of heat soak.
Air moves when there is a pressure difference. Have you ever noticed the amount of crap that builds up on the back of Exiges? Thats because there is a very low pressure area there (out of interest I think this is why Exiges are so draggy). This low pressure can be used to suck air out of the engine bay so ducts are not needed.
I haven’t opened up the number plate area on my car because I actually use the boot space, and I don’t want all that water and crap coming in through that opening. I did open up the two vents either side of the exhaust exit, and they made a small difference.
My motorsport engine cover did make a HUGE difference to the temperature. The rear window (between passenger compartment and engine bay) used to act like a big radiator behind your head, making the cockpit really hot. Now it just gets slightly warm.
I seem to remember that 83man’s engine cover ‘scoops’ are actually not scoops but vents, i.e. they point backwards and act as chimneys to vent hot air out.
Cutting slots in the engine cover would probably help, but it would be even better if the openings could be shaped like the slots in the motorsport cover.
No, because I made some fibrglass ducts to direct the water forwards into the engine bay. How pleased I was to find that Lotus used a very similar design to keep the boot dry in the S2 Exige.
You can see a couple of pictures HERE showing one of the scoops as I was fitting it.
very clever, but i suppose those ducts mean u can see absolutely nothing out the back now. Where do u get the motorsport cover from?
The ducts have no effect on rear visibility as they slope downwards from the opening. Having said that, the rear view is so abysmal through the motorsport cover that I’ve removed the interior mirror anyway. The view forwards is much better.
My cover is the official Lotus part, supplied and fitted by Nick Whale Sportscars.
Also can u buy a special pole to keep the engine cover open or is it a random one u have to find that fits?
You can buy a ‘special’ pole from Lotus, but it’s crap and overpriced. I made mine with a pole from a wardrobe, and attached it with a small door hinge.
I’ve cut holes in my engine cover (2 off, about 6-7cm) and covered them with polypropolene ducts from Demon Tweeks. Did this last year and it definately sucks out lots of hot air when moving and helps keep things cool.
That said I’ve just been told by NW in Brum that my cooling fan has seized (super engine hot air extraction = lack of use I suspect!!! ) so its a clam off job to fix it…
The motorsport cover’s so effective, I could probably ditch my cooling fan. It hasn’t come on in two years. Even when stuck in traffic on a blisteringly hot day in Monaco.