LeoDLion

I take them off, look around, put them back on. Its a pita. So I am wondering what are the functions of the engine cover other than making the engine compartment look tidy? The plastic fasteners that hold them in place are so flimpsy too.

hypervish

It muffles engine noise.

rogzballz

iTrader: (9)

Allows for better air flow ?!?

LexBob2

If I'm not mistaken, the 2013 ES350 and ESh don't have the cover. Did they do away with it on the new RX?

andreys

It looks nice. There is an assumption that 99.9% of Lexus drives will not look under the hood

LeoDLion

Really? That is interesting.

LeoDLion

Well I am a weekend mechanic. Although I have not remove the cover, I will for sure be removing it soon. I do most of the maintenance myself, thats my hobby.

Perhaps it helps in cooling the engine as air can be channel and flows faster in a small space. Quieter engine? Perhaps it helps in muffling the sound but high end cars should be quiet anyway with or without a cover.

MikeP

The 2013 RX's engine bay is completely covered.

Supersnoop

In old cars, there was insulation mounted to the hood, held in place with plastic fasteners. If the engine caught fire, the plastic was designed to melt and the insulation covered the engine acting as a fire suppression blanket. I wonder if the engine cover serves a similar purpose.

RXSF

The new ESh has a silver engine cover, but its just smaller because of the puny engine size. I assume the ES350 would have it too but I had yet to see photos.

Cruiter

It's really common now in the high end cars that require very little maintenance and when something is done only one or two panels need to be removed. It serves as another sound barrier and also helps to keep the engine bay cleaner. I wasn't fond of it at first either but learned how to remove and replace it w/o too much trouble. Now I just leave it there. It's not necessary to remove to check oil and I've never had to add any so it's serving its purpose I guess.

GrandSedanFan

iTrader: (1)

Heat soak.

mkeeney

It's a piece of plastic - it is definitely not a heat soak. As the engine is water-cooled like all modern engines, it also has nothing to do with air flow to cool the engine. It is 100% aesthetic. Since it's a luxury car, it has to look nice even under the hood.

Sevn86

I agree, it's mainly for aesthetic reasons only as if it was a sound muffler it should be working but since i can hear the annoying engine inside the car at all times I'm sure thats not the plastic covers function.

UCSB

There may be some clever engineering behind it, but I suspect it is a small thing to help distinguish the car from lower priced cars. As lower priced cars get better, these small items become important when buyers are looking at the car on the lot. I recently had to drive into San Francisco several times. Normally, I would take my Subaru Outback when I go to SF. But, these trips I decided to take my 450h. The pavement can be a little rough on the route I take. I had not noticed it on my Outback on many trips recently, but it was a problem on the 450h. So a car with a $32k price tag has a noticeably better ride than one with a $54k price tag. But, thankfully the 450h has a plastic engine cover. The crappy Dunlop OEM tires may be contributing to the difference.