Two questions: -
1) How much of an effect does a vented bonnet have on keeping the engine bay cooler than a closed bonnet?
2) When it rains/wash the car, what stops copious amounts of water pouring down the vents - or is this not an issue?
1) Pass! It should help the flow of air through the rad and IC as the pressure is lower but I have no stats. Had the vented bonnet on my toy since I got it.
2) Not a problem - car\'s parked out in all weathers and been washed using jetwash and hand. No noticable gunk or dirt under the vented area. Some of the bonnets with slatted vents have a catch tray that allows water to drain out in corners.
I\'ll post a pic later if I have time.
Iain
Mine has a huge effect on cooling,
The bonnet doesnt even get hot to the touch.
The old one you couldnt touch it.
As for water, It has two trays but If i want to go for a real drive I take them off.
As it sits out side I do put them back in to stop a lot of water in the bay.
But the covers prevent it to an extent, I still have to rig up some kind of drain function.
here is the underside with one cover removed
Wow, that is one helluva complex looking tray :)
Going by your comments, at the moment there is no where for the water to drain out of the tray?
NUP Just overflow
Russ, you have made a GREAT choice in bonnet. Reason being I also have an RE bonnet just like that one. ;)
The idea of the trays is to keep all the crap out, and let the water fall off the bottom.
Dan
I have the same bonnet.. but it has a black catch tray and theres a tube which drips the rain outta the bottom.
sometimes you can see theres a lot of heatwave coming outta the vents.. so I guess its dissipating the heat pretty well..
Dare I ask how much this particular bonnet cost and where from people?
I had pretty much settled on the Mazdaspeed GTC vented bonnet, but I heard rumours that they now only make it in some race hardened version that would set me back £3000....
Chris, cost me just short of a grand landed, just had to collect it. So driving through London in an FD without a bonnet gets lots more attention than normal. ;)
Dan
mine came with the car!:D