Air Dam looks great.
I would think the height is the most critical....is the width sufficient?
That looks great. I'm considering undertaking this project in the next few weekends.
Are you going to box the bottom at some point as well?
The bottom is more important then the sides. You can still keep the air dam. All you did was channel the air that wasn't going thru your radiator to escape thru the bottom. The idea is to force all the air that enters the bumper cover opening to pass thru the radiator.
ps... looks great so far. All you need now is some abs plastic, trim it so that the abs sits inside of the bumper cover lip and secures to the radiator support.
My understanding is that the air dam spoils the air passing under the radiator which allows the air trapped behind it to escape more easily. Allowing this trapped air to escape allows more air to flow through the radiator.
Boxing the bottom will force more of the air entering the bumper cover through the front. The air dam allows more to escape from the back.
The bottom air dam is also a must.
Thanks for the input! After boxing in the bottom of the radiator, should the air dam remain in the same stock area or should I make a new one that goes on the bottom of the front bumper?
Same area, you are trying to create a high pressure at the air dam which in turn will cause a vaccum behind the air dam getting the low pressure air from the engine compartment/radiator.
Now that looks really good. Now just add the air dam and your all set.
Thanks man! I did this "full box" primarily due to the advice you gave me:beer: I know you've been saying to throw my air dam back on in the stock location (which actually is the easiest option), but why not on the front bumper? I've seen so many cars that have boxed radiators with a deep lip/air dam on the bottom of the front bumper and dont understand what this method would do compared to adding the air dam onto the bottom of the radiator.
Sorry for all the questions, but you really seem to know how this all works together so your advice is GREATLY appreciated:thumbsup:
I'd imagine that moving the air dam forward from its stock location would be less effective in creating the desired vacuum effect. Air pressure will be lowest immediately behind the area where pressure is highest.
What the air dam does is force air down, not up. By putting it back in the stock location under the radiator, what it does is force air down toward the pavement under the engine. This in turn pulls a vacuum on the back of the radiator and in the space between the radiator and the front of the engine. Helping air flow out of the radiator.
-kevin
So today I found some time to do a little work on the car. I went to Lowes and bought 3.5" wide garden trim and cut it just a tad bit longer than the stock air dam. I attached it to the existing air dam and it sits quite low so I hope it doesnt get too beat up on the street!
I also boxed in the sides of my radiator. I used foam as someone said to use on corral.net. It looks pretty secure after just squeezing it between the radiator and the front bumper. I wrapped in black duct tape so it wouldn't look too bad from the outside.
I'm hoping both of these mods will help me at my next trackday in September. I'll post pics tonight. Thanks for all the pointers everyone!