Cooler Engine Bay
 

Has anyone run air ducts from the front of the car into the engine bay to help keep it cool? I know this will only work when the car is moving at a certain speed, but would there be any benefit?

cold air intake tube
 

i put one in my car to supply colder air to my k&n thyphoon intake kit. you can find a similar setup on the speed source mazda racing cars.

What is the small duct on the left hand side?

I believe that is an air intake to the battery to keep it cool.

Nice simple CAI, no need to spend the money on a RB CAI. Where did you buy the hose? Now I would some how run another hose into the engine bay to lower the high temperatures. I wonder if the inflowing air would exit through the side vents. I know those vents are used to circulate air around the oil coolers.

Frankcastle123, I've seen people add a plexi-glass cover over their thyphoon intake to keep out the hot air from the engine bay. I believe they did it to also cut down on the noise.

Nice naked car pics :) , so how does it work...do you notice any dif at speed?

If you run air into the engine bay you will lower the delta pressure that make your radiator work. Hot is not always hot to the engine bay. Parts were designed to live it there. I do agree that the electronics could have a little air sent into thart space. A one inch hose would do it. But on the other hand we have not seen any failures.

Getting the air out would be a better tact to follow. That would increase the flow and help temp and pressure delta. This can be done but carfull study of the areodynamic high and low pressure areas must be found. Don't think that you can just add vents here and there. Hood loovers have worked over the years for people but on the street you have a water entry problem. Baffling under them is a lot of work to do right.

Would something like this help get the air out of the engine bay faster or do I have these vents mistaken for the oil cooler ducts?

That is a low pressure area but i doubt that those work any better then stock. I haven't looked real close but I belive that those let underhood air out that includes oil cooler air.

I think if I'm seeing those vents right they look good. I'd just not have them chrome, black or body color for me. :)

Im not worried about the underhood temps, the parts the put under there have been heat tested for 'normal conditions'.

I just make sure that my ECU, battery and intake has fresh cool air. You could look at sealing cracks around the radiator so that the air entering the nose cant go around, and is forced to go thru. Like RP said mazda took time to design the air management around and thru the car, to help the car get as much air thru the cooling system as possible. Including the engine cover that is supposed to help air flow so the engine stays a little cooler.

As far as a benefit for the engine running cooler. This can help performance as the ECU wont need to pull as much timing out on a cooler engine.

That duct on the left is for the ECU cooler. The battery's duct is wider, tucked beneath the battery box, and cannot be seen from that angle. This is why the battery cover, ECU, cover and the engine cover has to stay put.

Some people think the bare look is cool. If you think it is cool to remove those covers, your engine parts wouldn't feel so :D

Hey where can you find those vents? They do look sharp, although I would want them in a different color.

I'm still concerned about the ECU being under the hood.. electronics just don't last long exposed to high heat. Even using Mil-spec components heat is a big problem...

Is there any *logical* reason Mazda would choose to park the ECU next to the engine? I haven't seen this on any other car I have owned. Yeah, they may have routed air in there so it will be *cooler* when moving above a certain speed. But they wouldn't have had to do that were the ECU located elsewhere. Surely there is a reason? Anyone got a theory besides saving on wiring? ;)

You only missed the chance by about a year. LOL Click here. :D

psy
I have been talking about the ecu temps for over a year. It came to my attention when i was running the cz unit for a while. Run the car normally in city driving for an hour on a summer day (Not open road) and open up the ecu box and touch the stock pcm and it will almost burn your hand. It cant be good. we even talked about putting a supplemental fan in there. But to my knowledge no electronic failures have been identified. Maybe in 3-4-5-6 years? It does need more cooling.
Also at that time some people where having coil pack failures and there was a lot of talk about the engine cover. Run with it on or run with it off. Leave the accessory fans on or turn them off when parked. Much discussion but no firm findings. Personally I dont think it serves much purpose other than pretty. There was some discussion about the hot air being blown over the coil packs by the fans after the car is parked. CZ wsa concerned about that.
But that issue seems to have gone away.
I agree with RP about ducting the engine bay. Just be sure you dont disturb the flow to the rat. The side vents are for looks only. ANd I dont think people want that much heat and glunk coming out on their paint jobs. Plenty of air comes out from under this car. You just have to keep it moving some. I am beginning also to like the idea of a good pre mix.
olddragger

Are you sure about that? I've felt a moderate amount of heat coming from the vents one day right after I got home from a long highway cruise.

GM, Chrysler, Ford, and Mazda trucks and vans (Ford too) run the PCM under the hoods including the Vettes. I agree that it's hard to swallow that it's ok to put them there and that engineers don't know it all (sorry Val!) but I am guessing that r&d figured out it was ok to do so. Our friends at Speedsource seem to think it works ok too because under that cover is a gold box with MoTeC on it. I guess it's all they could afford at the time but somehow they have managed to eek out 2 wins in a row with it anyway.

Computers in cars get hot and can live in ahot environment while working their asses off just like you or me, right Denny?

Lol Charlie. I do some of my best work once i get warmed up! Old bones. By the way I am appreciatting that cold air thingy more everyday.
Mo rotor the side vents are for show only man. Take the fenderwell chad off and you will see. The chad can be cut so thay can serve as a vent for the front wheel Speed source has done that but they also vented the front disc brakes. i dont think we have to or want to do that!
Olddragger

Could you adapt them to vent the engine bay?

I'd be very interested in doing something like this, now that olddragger said it's a fake. Probably something as simple as 'popping' a hole in the inner fender will channel the hot air out to the vents.

If you cant dazzle 'em with brilliance, baffle 'em with bullshit.

Usually what happens is black boxes must go SOMEWHERE in a vehicle (planes in my case). Engineers consider many factors to determine a suitable location not the least of which include cost, installation, future maintenance and environment. Notice I put environment last. If the black box manufacturer does not specifically call out operating temp limits, then none are used. If the unit last a while and doesnt burn up right away then its called good. After all, car companies do want to sell parts later on down the road.

IMPO, The driving factors for ECU placement are most likely ease of production and maintenance not environmental concerns.

morotor,
Yea you COULD route air from the engine bay through the side vents BUT i dont think you want too. Remember the air in the engine bay is not going to cool the engine much,--its the rad and oil coolers that do that-- and all of that is currently controlled by the ecu. So a bigger rad will not even cool the engine anymore at present (unless you are running hot for some reason). If you want cooler oil then thats another issue.
yes you can route air into the engine bay from the outside but remember what RP said --dont upset the positive/neg pressure inside the engine bay--it will adversley affect the air going through the rad and thats not good. It could cause more harm than good.
I advise to leave it alone. If you want additional cooling in the engine bay do it only to cool the ecu (bigger inlet pipe/ easier exit of air)and Get the revi set up for cool air intake temps. Rotaries have been running hot for years and Mazda knows what they are doing. Now if you are going to FI with standalone ecu then thats another matter. Cooling can become a real problem then.
Ok Val you and Charlie talking again?Lol.
I love it.
olddragger

Would this help?? http://www.rx7.com/store/rx8/rx8misc.html

GReddy Air Diversion Panel