A couple of weeks ago, I was contacted by one of the writers at thedrive.com about doing an article about my car, specifically the aero mods that a former Mercedes F1 aero engineer has helped me design. The author, Kristen Shaw did a great job on the article that showcases my 1992 Dodge Stealth TT.
My goal as the owner of the car in the article was to spread an understanding of the platform and hopefully generate interest in our cars.
Thats really interesting did you get any data on how much heat reduction you were able to do by covering the hot pipes?
Also dud you consider things like plenum spacers etc too?
An update on all this - I’ve had the 3sx high capacity radiator put in and am using a waterless coolant now so my figures need to be redone but this is from last summer.
I haven’t had a reason to take the intake off as yet so no spacers as yet.
The testing I did was with a remote thermometer mounted on the hood, at the edge of the opening and on top of the strut cover. I also monitor my intake temperature and of course the coolant via TorquePro and the blackstealth converter. Here’s what I can tell you.
As far as the wrapping of the turbo pipes, the idea was to delay the onset of heat soak. The blankets I made from the lava tape (hand stitched with stainless steel wire) which keeps the engine compartment cool enough that I can rest my hand on the intake after driving. Before, way too hot. On item that I consider a serious design flaw is how close the exhaust manifold is to the radiator. Yeah, I know there’s a heatshield there but that gets just as hot. The blankets I made sit on the heatshield.
Generally speaking, my intake runs at most 20 degrees warmer than ambient.
Vents: On an 80 degree ambient day, the air coming from the vents is about 15 degrees warmer when sitting, 25 degrees warmer when moving at or above 40 mph and with the fans on (A/C and main), almost 30 degrees warmer than air.
As far as coolant goes, in town if I’m moving at all, 188 degrees. If I stop, it’ll hit 190. It’s only been over 200 a few times. It’s important to note that I have a fan override in the cabin to turn the fan on high manually.
Thats really interesting thanks!
Look forward to any follow ups. Also one thing I didnt fully understand in the original article was about the plastic caps on the suspension struts and how this related to air flow.
Thanks
Very Interesting, how many blankets did you make and where are they placed.
I made two. One for the front manifold and one for the back. The one in the rear made the biggest difference, keeping that heat from the intake. This is the second Stealth (in the mid 90s) that I’ve owned (which is why when I found this one with 38k on it, I told the wife, my new car) so I’ve 20+ years to think about it.
Anyways, here’s some photos of how I made the blankets and the one in the rear.
Front blanket. This one was tricky getting the individual strips of lava tape just the right lengths for each segment. But in the end, it’s well worth the effort it takes to make them. I did search for pre made blankets but I couldn’t find anything.
One tip - spray the blankets with water before putting them on and they’ll form to the shape like they were starched.
Hey. Would love to see some pics…and the video of air flow development…
You can see some of the design and research videos on my channel on YT.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCidcj1iH862RLQqvlUsZblQ/videos
The biggest changes I made were the vortex generators on the roof and the Gurney flap on the banana spoiler. The effect is profound in that the C pillar vents are actually effective now and ALL flow from the sides and roof are drawn over the center of the vehicle.
The trouble I’ve been having is with the diffuser design. The diffuser itself is fine, it’s the height of the strakes because of the overhang on the 3/S platform, they strike the ground very easily if the strake height is over 2 inches.
